Editing Glenn Beck

{{Short description|American political commentator (born 1964)}}
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{{Use American English|date = October 2019}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=October 2019}}
{{Infobox person
| name               = Glenn Beck
| image              = Glenn Beck (54234293087) (cropped).jpg
| caption            = Beck in 2024
| birth_name         = Glenn Lee Beck<ref>{{cite web |url=https://newspaperarchive.com/lynnwood-enterprise/1964-04-01/page-23 |title=Lynnwood Enterprise, Wednesday, April 1, 1964, p. 23 |date=April 1964 |publisher=Newspaperarchive.com |access-date=December 31, 2013 |url-access=subscription |archive-date=October 21, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131021173017/https://newspaperarchive.com/lynnwood-enterprise/1964-04-01/page-23 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|title=America at a Crossroads|url=http://www.foxnews.com/on-air/glenn-beck/transcript/america-crossroads?page=2|date=January 4, 2011|first=Glenn|last=Beck|work=[[Fox News]]|page=2|access-date=January 21, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110426025244/http://www.foxnews.com/on-air/glenn-beck/transcript/america-crossroads?page=2|archive-date=April 26, 2011}}</ref>
| birth_date         = {{birth date and age|mf=yes|1964|2|10}}
| birth_place        = [[Everett, Washington]], U.S.
| movement           = Conservatism
| occupation         = Talk show host, political commentator, producer,<ref>{{cite news |url=https://hollywoodreporter.com/news/glenn-beck-moves-movie-production-696274 |title=Glenn Beck Moves Into Movie Production (Exclusive) |work=[[The Hollywood Reporter]] |date=February 7, 2014 |access-date=April 16, 2014 |first=Paul |last=Bond |archive-date=April 18, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140418155838/http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/glenn-beck-moves-movie-production-696274 |url-status=live }}</ref> entrepreneur<ref name="BlazeOnDish">{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/12/business/media/glenn-becks-show-heads-to-dish-network.html?pagewanted=all|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|title=Beck Takes His Conservative Internet Shows to the Dish Network|first=Brian|last=Stelter|date=September 12, 2012|access-date=February 21, 2017|archive-date=June 10, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210610044642/https://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/12/business/media/glenn-becks-show-heads-to-dish-network.html?pagewanted=all|url-status=live}}</ref>
| party              = [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] (before 2014)<br />[[Independent politician|Independent]] (2014–present)<ref name=RunFrom/>
| spouse             = {{plainlist|
* {{marriage|Claire|1983|1994|end=div}}
* {{marriage|Tania|1999}}
}}
| children = 4
| website            = {{URL|glennbeck.com}}
| signature          = Glenn Beck signature.gif
| awards             = *[[Gene Burns Memorial Award for Freedom of Speech]], 2013 (''[[Talkers Magazine]]'')<ref>{{cite news|url=http://blog.sfgate.com/nov05election/2013/06/11/first-gene-burns-memorial-award-goes-to-glenn-beck-video/|title=SFGate Blog|work=[[San Francisco Chronicle]]|access-date=June 12, 2013|archive-date=June 15, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130615051404/http://blog.sfgate.com/nov05election/2013/06/11/first-gene-burns-memorial-award-goes-to-glenn-beck-video/|url-status=live}}</ref>
* [[Tribeca Disruptive Innovation Award]], 2013<ref>{{cite news | url=https://variety.com/2013/film/news/tribeca-film-festival-to-honor-twyla-tharp-for-innovation-1200331877/ | work=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]| title=Tribeca Film Festival to Honor Twyla Tharp for Innovation | access-date=December 9, 2017 | archive-date=November 11, 2017 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171111152343/http://variety.com/2013/film/news/tribeca-film-festival-to-honor-twyla-tharp-for-innovation-1200331877/ | url-status=live }}</ref>
* [[Marconi Award]] Personality of the Year, 2008<ref name=MarconiAward>{{cite web|url=http://www.mediabistro.com/tvnewser/cnn/beck_wins_marconi_award_95056.asp|title=Beck Wins Marconi Award|publisher=mediabistro.com|access-date=April 9, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090926225105/http://www.mediabistro.com/tvnewser/cnn/beck_wins_marconi_award_95056.asp|archive-date=September 26, 2009}}</ref>
}}
{{Conservatism US|commentators}}
'''Glenn Lee Beck''' (born February 10, 1964) is an American [[Conservatism in the united states|conservative]] 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]]. He hosts the ''[[Glenn Beck Radio Program]]'', a [[talk radio|talk-radio show]] nationally syndicated on [[Premiere Radio Networks]]. Beck also hosts the [[Glenn Beck Program|''Glenn Beck'']] television program, which ran from January 2006 to October 2008 on [[HLN (TV channel)|HLN]], from January 2009 to June 2011 on [[Fox News]] and now airs on [[TheBlaze]]. Beck has authored six [[New York Times Best Seller list|''New York Times''–bestselling books]].<ref name="Forbes410">Rose, Lacey (April 26, 2010), [https://web.archive.org/web/20100413220425/http://www.forbes.com/forbes/2010/0426/entertainment-fox-news-simon-schuster-glenn-beck-inc_print.html "Glenn Beck Inc"], ''[[Forbes]]''</ref>

In April 2011, Beck announced that he would "transition off of his daily program" on Fox News, but would continue to team with Fox.<ref name="Fox News">{{cite news |url=http://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/2011/04/06/fox-news-announces-new-projects-glenn-beck/ |title=Fox News Announces New TV, Digital Projects With Glenn Beck |publisher=Foxnews.com |date=April 6, 2011 |access-date=November 1, 2012 |archive-date=April 9, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160409091842/http://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/2011/04/06/fox-news-announces-new-projects-glenn-beck/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> His last daily show on Fox was June 30, 2011.<ref name="politicolastshow">{{cite web |url=http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0611/58175.html |title=Glenn Beck's last show on Fox News |date=June 30, 2011 |publisher=Politico.com |access-date=November 1, 2012 |archive-date=October 21, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131021173018/http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0611/58175.html |url-status=live }}</ref> In 2012, ''[[The Hollywood Reporter]]'' placed Beck on its Digital Power Fifty list.<ref>{{citation|work=[[The Hollywood Reporter]]|url = https://hollywoodreporter.com/lists/glenn-beck-280336|title = THR's 2012 Digital Power 50: Glenn Beck|date = January 11, 2012|access-date = December 11, 2019|archive-date = September 24, 2015|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150924150345/http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/lists/glenn-beck-280336}}</ref> 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 (American TV series)|For the Record]]''.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://huffingtonpost.com/2014/11/11/glenn-beck-history-house_n_6142426.html|title=Glenn Beck Teases New Project: 'History House'|work=[[HuffPost]]|date=November 12, 2014|access-date=December 11, 2019|archive-date=October 22, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161022065151/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/11/11/glenn-beck-history-house_n_6142426.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

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 [[Presidency of Barack Obama|Barack Obama's presidency]], Beck promoted [[Barack Obama citizenship conspiracy theories|conspiracy theories about Obama]], his administration, [[George Soros]], and others.

== Early life and education ==
Beck was born in [[Everett, Washington]], the son of Mary Clara (née Janssen) and William Beck, who lived in [[Mountlake Terrace, Washington]], at the time of their son's birth.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://heraldnet.com/article/20091002/NEWS01/710029859 |date=October 2, 2009 |title=Turns out Glenn Beck actually was born in Everett |first=Julie |last=Muhlstein |newspaper=Everett Herald |access-date=October 6, 2009 |archive-date=January 6, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160106104631/http://www.heraldnet.com/article/20091002/NEWS01/710029859 |url-status=live }}</ref> The family later moved to [[Mount Vernon, Washington]],<ref name="Skagit Valley Herald 2009-09-27"/> where they owned and operated a downtown bakery.<ref name="Skagit Valley Herald 2009-09-27">{{cite news|last1=Ganser|first1=Tahlia|title=Beck charms while protesters vent|url=http://www.goskagit.com/home/article/beck_charms_while_protesters_vent/|access-date=May 30, 2015|work=Skagit Valley Herald|date=September 27, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091002065321/http://www.goskagit.com/home/article/beck_charms_while_protesters_vent/|archive-date=October 2, 2009}}</ref> He is descended from [[German American|German]] immigrants who came to the United States in the 19th century.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.glennbeck.com/content/articles/article/198/19740 |title=Valkyrie January 5, 2009 |newspaper=Glenn Beck |date=January 5, 2009 |access-date=November 1, 2012 |archive-date=October 23, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171023062336/http://www.glennbeck.com/content/articles/article/198/19740/  }}</ref> Beck was raised as a [[Roman Catholic]] and attended Immaculate Conception Catholic School in Mount Vernon.

Beck and his sister moved with their mother to [[Sumner, Washington]], attending a [[Jesuit]] school<ref>{{cite book|first=Raymond E.|last=Smith|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QC9dDQAAQBAJ&q=Glenn+beck+jesuit+school&pg=RA1-PA1950|title=How Did They Get So Rich?|publisher=BookBaby|date=2012|isbn=978-1-62095-495-9}}{{Dead link|date=August 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> in [[Puyallup, Washington|Puyallup]]. In 1979, when Beck was 15, his mother drowned in [[Puget Sound]] while fishing with a man in [[Commencement Bay]] west of [[Tacoma, Washington|Tacoma]].<ref name="MaryBeck1979">{{cite news |date=May 16, 1979 |title=Body in bay identified |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-news-tribune-body-in-bay-identified/123497533/ |work=[[The News Tribune]] |publication-place=Tacoma, Washington |access-date=April 24, 2023 |archive-date=April 25, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230425072134/https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-news-tribune-body-in-bay-identified/123497533/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Mystery"/> Her companion also drowned; police investigators believed that one of the victims may have fallen overboard and the other drowned in a rescue attempt.<ref name="SecondBody">{{cite news |date=May 17, 1979 |title=Second body found in bay |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-news-tribune-second-body-found-in-ba/123497767/ |work=[[The News Tribune]] |access-date=April 24, 2023 |archive-date=April 25, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230425072134/https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-news-tribune-second-body-found-in-ba/123497767/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Mystery"/> Beck has called his mother's death a [[suicide]] in interviews.<ref name="Mystery">{{cite web |first=Alexander |last=Zaitchik |url=http://www.salon.com/2009/09/21/glenn_beck/ |title=The making of Glenn Beck |work=[[Salon.com]] |publisher=Salon Media Group |location=San Francisco, California |date=September 21, 2009 |access-date=March 28, 2018 |archive-date=February 8, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180208114118/https://www.salon.com/2009/09/21/glenn_beck/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

After their mother's death, Beck moved to his father's home in [[Bellingham, Washington|Bellingham]], where Beck graduated from [[Sehome High School]] in 1982.<ref name="ST2009-09-26">{{cite news|first=Manuel|last=Valdes|url=http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2009936122_apusglennbeckday.html|title=Glenn Beck's homecoming riles up people in Washington|work=[[The Seattle Times]]|date=September 26, 2009|access-date=November 18, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090928091505/http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2009936122_apusglennbeckday.html|archive-date=September 28, 2009}}</ref><ref name="BeckPassion">{{cite news |last=Kahn |first=Dean |date=September 27, 2009 |title=Beck's passion for radio began in Mount Vernon |url=https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/becks-passion-for-radio-began-in-mount-vernon/ |work=[[The Seattle Times]] |place=Bellingham, Washington |publication-place=Seattle, Washington |access-date=April 25, 2023 |archive-date=April 25, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230425074603/https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/becks-passion-for-radio-began-in-mount-vernon/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Beck also regularly vacationed with his maternal grandparents, Ed and Clara Janssen, in Iowa.<ref>{{citation|first = Todd S.|last = Purdum|author-link = Todd Purdum|url = http://www.vanityfair.com/politics/2012/05/glenn-beck-key-to-gop-election-hopes|title = Beck and the Beast|work=[[Vanity Fair (magazine)|Vanity Fair]]|location = New York City|date = May 2012|access-date = March 28, 2018|archive-date = November 12, 2014|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20141112145045/http://www.vanityfair.com/politics/2012/05/glenn-beck-key-to-gop-election-hopes|url-status = live}}</ref> In the aftermath of his mother's death and his stepbrother's subsequent suicide, Beck has said he used "Dr. [[Jack Daniel's]]" to cope. At 18, after graduating from high school, he moved to [[Provo, Utah]], and worked at radio station [[KXRK|KAYK]]. Feeling he "didn't fit in", Beck left Utah after six months,<ref name="Lynn Arave">{{cite news|first=Lynn|last=Arave|url=http://www.deseretnews.com/article/650209422/Glenn-Beck-not-household-name--yet.html?pg=all|title=Glenn Beck not household name – yet|work=[[Deseret Morning News]]|publisher=[[Deseret News Corporation]]|location=Salt Lake City|date=November 26, 2006|access-date=November 18, 2009|archive-date=October 22, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121022172259/http://www.deseretnews.com/article/650209422/Glenn-Beck-not-household-name--yet.html?pg=all|url-status=dead}}</ref> taking a job at [[Washington, D.C.]]'s [[WJFK (AM)|WPGC]] in February 1983.<ref name="Mystery"/>

== Personal life ==
[[File:Glenn Beck Crowd In Front of Memorial.jpg|thumb|Glenn Beck speaking at Restoring Honor at the Lincoln Memorial]]
While working at WPGC, Beck met his first wife, Claire.<ref name="Salon-22Sep09"/> They married in 1983 and had two daughters, Mary and Hannah. Mary developed [[cerebral palsy]] as a result of a series of strokes at birth in 1988.<ref name="Salon-22Sep09">{{cite news|work=[[Salon.com|Salon]]|date=September 22, 2009|url=http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2009/09/22/glenn_beck_two/print.html|title=Glenn Beck becomes damaged goods; The radio phenom takes over the morning zoo, makes fun of miscarriages and flames out|first=Alexander |last=Zaitchik |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230926123623/https://www.salon.com/2009/09/22/glenn_beck_two/|archive-date=September 26, 2023}}</ref> The couple divorced in 1994 amid Beck's struggles with [[substance abuse]]. He is a recovering [[alcoholic]] and [[drug addiction|drug addict]],<ref name="about">{{cite web|url=http://www.glennbeck.com/content/program/about|title=About Glenn Beck|access-date=September 1, 2009|publisher=Glenn Beck|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090912224719/http://www.glennbeck.com/content/program/about/|archive-date=September 12, 2009}}</ref> and has said he has [[attention deficit hyperactivity disorder]] (ADHD).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ourfuture.org/blog-entry/2010052023/glenn-becks-common-nonsense-interview-alex-zaitchik|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100529171431/http://www.ourfuture.org/blog-entry/2010052023/glenn-becks-common-nonsense-interview-alex-zaitchik|archive-date=May 29, 2010|title=Glenn Beck's Common Nonsense: An Interview With Alex Zaitchik – OurFuture.org|date=May 29, 2010}}</ref><ref name="Salon-23Sep09"/><ref name="Beck_Interviews_Pennington">{{cite news|url=http://www.glennbeck.com/content/articles/article/196/12741|title=Glenn interviews Ty Pennington|newspaper=Glenn Beck |date=July 22, 2008|access-date=January 8, 2010|archive-date=January 21, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210121155752/https://www.glennbeck.com/content/articles/article/196/12741/}}</ref>

By 1994, Beck was suicidal, and imagined shooting himself to the music of [[Kurt Cobain]].<ref name="Salon-23Sep09"/><!--verified 2012-11-27--> He credits [[Alcoholics Anonymous]] (AA) with helping him achieve [[sobriety]]. He said he stopped drinking alcohol and smoking [[cannabis (drug)|cannabis]] in November 1994, the same month he attended his first AA meeting.<ref name="Salon-23Sep09">{{cite news|work=[[Salon.com|Salon]]|date=September 23, 2009|url=http://www.salon.com/2009/09/23/glenn_beck_three/|title=Glenn Beck rises again: Getting clean, getting Mormon, getting talk radio – and going to Yale, with the help of Joe Lieberman|first=Alexander|last=Zaitchik|access-date=December 18, 2015|archive-date=November 12, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201112021909/https://www.salon.com/2009/09/23/glenn_beck_three/|url-status=live}}</ref><!--verified 2012-11-27--> Beck later said that he had gotten high every day for the previous 15 years, since the age of 16.<ref name="Mystery"/>

In 1996, while working for a [[New Haven, Connecticut|New Haven]] area radio station, Beck took a [[theology]] class at [[Yale University]], with a written recommendation from Senator [[Joe Lieberman]], a Yale alumnus who was a fan of Beck's show at the time.<ref name = beingglenn/> Beck enrolled in an "Early Christology" course, but soon withdrew, marking the extent of his post-secondary education.<ref name="Salon-23Sep09"/><!--verified 2012-11-27--><ref name="Men Style">{{cite journal |url=https://www.gq.com/entertainment/movies-and-tv/200708/glenn-beck-cnn-new-york-television?currentPage=1 |title=Is Glenn Beck The Most Annoying Man On Tv? Or does it only seem that way |journal=GQ |date=September 2007 |first=Benjamin |last=Wallace |access-date=November 27, 2012 |archive-date=May 1, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130501104034/http://www.gq.com/entertainment/movies-and-tv/200708/glenn-beck-cnn-new-york-television?currentPage=1 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

[[File:גלן בק.jpg|thumb|Israeli citizens holding banner at the Jerusalem Restoring Courage rally, in which Beck was the main speaker]]

Beck then began a "spiritual quest" in which he "sought out answers in churches and bookstores".<ref name="Salon-23Sep09"/><!--verified 2012-11-27--> As he later recounted in his books and stage performances, Beck's first attempt at [[self-education]] involved reading the work of six wide-ranging authors, constituting what Beck jokingly calls "the library of a serial killer": [[Alan Dershowitz]], [[Pope John Paul II]], [[Adolf Hitler]], [[Billy Graham]], [[Carl Sagan]], and [[Friedrich Nietzsche]].<ref name = beingglenn/> During this time, Beck's Mormon friend and former radio partner [[Blaze Media|Pat Gray]] argued in favor of the "comprehensive worldview" offered by [[the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints]], an offer that Beck rejected until a few years later.<ref name="Salon-23Sep09"/><!--verified 2012-11-27--> (Later, after moving to the New York City area, he had a consultation with Graham, which he said affected him strongly.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://christiannews.net/2018/03/03/glenn-beck-chokes-up-over-his-recollection-of-when-billy-graham-defended-him-a-mormon-as-being-christian/|title=Glenn Beck Chokes Up Over His Recollection of When Billy Graham Defended Him, a Mormon, as Being Christian|date=March 3, 2018|access-date=November 26, 2018|archive-date=November 13, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181113060222/https://christiannews.net/2018/03/03/glenn-beck-chokes-up-over-his-recollection-of-when-billy-graham-defended-him-a-mormon-as-being-christian/|url-status=live}}</ref>

In 1999, Beck married his second wife, Tania.<ref name="Salon-23Sep09"/><!--verified 2012-11-27--> After they went looking for a faith on a church tour together,<ref name="Salon-23Sep09"/><!--verified 2012-11-27--> they joined [[the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints]] in October 1999, partly at the urging of his daughter Mary.<ref name="LDS-Living">{{cite journal |title=Glenn Beck: The Real Story |first=Jamie |last=Lawson |journal=LDS Living |year=2007 |url=http://www.ldsliving.com/story/5768-glenn-beck |access-date=October 11, 2010 |archive-date=May 3, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150503195927/http://www.ldsliving.com/story/5768-glenn-beck  }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/05/business/media/05radio.html |title=A Folksy Guy, in Recovery, about to land Millions |date=November 11, 2007 |work=[[The New York Times]]|first=Brian |last=Stelter |access-date=May 3, 2010 |archive-date=April 29, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110429202657/http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/05/business/media/05radio.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Beck was [[Baptism (Mormonism)|baptized]] by Pat Gray.<ref name="Salon-23Sep09"/><!--verified 2012-11-27--> Beck and Tania have two children together. Until April 2011, the couple lived in [[New Canaan, Connecticut]], with the four children.<ref>[https://huffingtonpost.com/2009/12/29/glenn-becks-house-on-mark_n_405931.html Glenn Beck's House On Market For Almost $4 Million] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161022065202/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/12/29/glenn-becks-house-on-mark_n_405931.html |date=October 22, 2016 }} – slideshow and article at ''[[The Huffington Post]]'', March 18, 2010</ref><ref>{{cite news|work=[[Stamford Advocate]]|url = http://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/article/It-s-official-Glenn-Beck-sells-New-Canaan-home-1359020.php#ixzz1QsKTOGM0|title = It's official: Glenn Beck sells New Canaan home for $3.6M|date = April 29, 2011|first = Paresh|last = Jha|access-date = July 1, 2011|archive-date = August 10, 2020|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20200810193140/https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/article/It-s-official-Glenn-Beck-sells-New-Canaan-home-1359020.php#ixzz1QsKTOGM0|url-status = live}}</ref>

In July 2010, Beck announced that he had been diagnosed with [[Vitelliform macular dystrophy|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.<ref>{{cite news|last=Katz|first=Neil|title=Macular Dystrophy Scare: Is Glenn Beck Going Blind?|url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/macular-dystrophy-scare-is-glenn-beck-going-blind/|access-date=July 19, 2010|work=[[CBS News]]|date=July 19, 2010|archive-date=October 21, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131021173018/http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504763_162-20010976-10391704.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

In July 2011, Beck leased a house in the [[Fort Worth, Texas|Fort Worth]] suburb of [[Westlake, Texas]].<ref name="Pegasus">{{cite news|first=Candy|last=Evans|url=http://www.pegasusnews.com/news/2011/jul/12/glenn-beck-move-westlake-eye-building-home/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111016044555/http://www.pegasusnews.com/news/2011/jul/12/glenn-beck-move-westlake-eye-building-home/|archive-date=October 16, 2011|title=Glenn Beck confirms move to Westlake, with eye on building home|work=[[Pegasus News]]|publisher=[[Gap Communications]]|location=Dallas, Texas|date=July 12, 2011|access-date=March 28, 2018}}</ref> The Blaze has been based in [[Irving, Texas]], a suburb of [[Dallas, Texas|Dallas]], since 2011.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.dallasnews.com/business/technology/2017/09/01/glenn-beck-cuts-staff-at-conservative-media-outlet-the-blaze/ | title=Glenn Beck cuts staff at conservative media outlet the Blaze | date=September 2017 | access-date=July 10, 2023 | archive-date=July 10, 2023 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230710191017/https://www.dallasnews.com/business/technology/2017/09/01/glenn-beck-cuts-staff-at-conservative-media-outlet-the-blaze/ | url-status=live }}</ref>

On November 10, 2014, Beck announced on [[TheBlaze]] 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,<ref name=Makarechi>{{Citation|first=Kia|last=Makarechi|url=http://www.vanityfair.com/online/daily/2014/11/glenn-beck-neurological-illness|title=Glenn Beck Reveals He Has Been Suffering from Debilitating Illness|work=[[Vanity Fair (magazine)|Vanity Fair]]|location=New York City|date=November 13, 2014|access-date=November 15, 2014|archive-date=November 16, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141116021921/http://www.vanityfair.com/online/daily/2014/11/glenn-beck-neurological-illness|url-status=live}}</ref> 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".<ref name=Corriston>{{Citation|first=Michele|last=Corriston|url=http://www.people.com/article/glenn-beck-health-problems-revealed|title=Glenn Beck Reveals 5-Year Health Battle That Made Him Feel 'Crazy'|work=[[People (magazine)|People]]|publisher=[[Mercury Corporation]]|location=New York City|date=November 11, 2014|access-date=November 15, 2014|archive-date=November 15, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141115113138/http://www.people.com/article/glenn-beck-health-problems-revealed|url-status=live}}</ref> Beck said that a [[chiropractor]] who specializes in "[[chiropractic neurology]]", [[Frederick Carrick]], had "diagnosed [him] with several health issues, including an autoimmune disorder, which he didn't name, and [[adrenal fatigue]]." Over 10 months he had received a series of treatments and felt better.<ref name=Bever>{{Citation |first=Lindsey |last=Bever |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2014/11/11/glenn-becks-dramatic-revelation-hes-been-hiding-a-mysterious-brain-illness/ |title=Glenn Beck's dramatic revelation: He's been hiding a mysterious brain illness |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |publisher=[[Nash Holdings|Nash Holdings LLC]] |location=Washington, DC |date=November 11, 2014 |access-date=November 15, 2014 |archive-date=November 15, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141115011317/http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2014/11/11/glenn-becks-dramatic-revelation-hes-been-hiding-a-mysterious-brain-illness/ |url-status=live }}</ref> On January 13, 2022, Beck announced that his second case of [[COVID-19]] was "getting into my lungs".<ref>{{Cite web|last=Cohen|first=Rebecca|title=Glenn Beck says he has caught COVID-19 again and it's 'getting into my lungs'|url=https://www.businessinsider.com/glenn-beck-has-covid-19-again-getting-into-lungs-2022-1|access-date=2022-01-16|website=[[Business Insider]]|language=en-US|archive-date=January 13, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220113224718/https://www.businessinsider.com/glenn-beck-has-covid-19-again-getting-into-lungs-2022-1|url-status=live}}</ref>

== Career ==
{{quote box
| quote  = Glenn Beck has managed to monetize virtually everything that comes out of his mouth.
| source = –''[[Forbes]]'', April 2010<ref name="Forbes410"/><ref name="Forbesslides">[https://www.forbes.com/2010/04/07/glenn-beck-fox-news-business-entertainment-beck_slide.html "In Pictures: 'How Glenn Beck Makes His Money'"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171111154613/https://www.forbes.com/2010/04/07/glenn-beck-fox-news-business-entertainment-beck_slide.html |date=November 11, 2017 }} slide show by ''[[Forbes]]''</ref>
 | width = 32%
 | align = right
}}

In 2002, Beck created the media platform Mercury Radio Arts<ref name = beingglenn>{{cite news|first = Mark|last = Leibovich|url = https://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/03/magazine/03beck-t.html?_r=3&hp=&pagewanted=all|title = Being Glenn Beck|work=[[The New York Times Magazine]]|date = September 29, 2010|access-date = February 21, 2017|archive-date = June 23, 2020|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20200623073117/https://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/03/magazine/03beck-t.html?_r=3&hp=&pagewanted=all|url-status = live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|first = Lacey|last = Rose|url = https://blogs.forbes.com/laceyrose/2010/08/30/glenn-becks-35-million-empire-adds-a-news-site/|title = Glenn Beck's $35 Million Empire Adds A News Site|work=[[Forbes]]|department = Moneywood (blog)|location = San Francisco, California|date = August 30, 2010|access-date = March 28, 2018|archive-date = July 11, 2011|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110711020217/http://blogs.forbes.com/laceyrose/2010/08/30/glenn-becks-35-million-empire-adds-a-news-site/|url-status = live}}</ref> 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]]' [[Mercury Theatre]], which produced live radio broadcasts during the 1930s. The company produces all of Beck's productions, including his [[Glenn Beck Radio Program|eponymous radio show]], books, live [[stage show]]s, and his official website.<ref name="beingglenn2">{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/03/magazine/03beck-t.html?_r=3&hp=&pagewanted=all|title=Being Glenn Beck|last=Leibovich|first=Mark|date=September 29, 2010|work=[[New York Times Magazine]]|access-date=February 21, 2017|archive-date=June 23, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200623073117/https://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/03/magazine/03beck-t.html?_r=3&hp=&pagewanted=all|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/laceyrose/2010/08/30/glenn-becks-35-million-empire-adds-a-news-site/|title=Glenn Beck's $35 Million Empire Adds A News Site|last=Rose|first=Lacey|date=August 30, 2010|work=Forbes Blogs: Moneywood|access-date=January 16, 2022|archive-date=April 1, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220401114254/https://www.forbes.com/sites/laceyrose/2010/08/30/glenn-becks-35-million-empire-adds-a-news-site/|url-status=live}}</ref>

=== Radio ===
{{See also|Glenn Beck Radio Program}}

In 1983, Beck moved to [[Corpus Christi, Texas]], to work at radio station [[KZFM]].<ref name="Salon-22Sep09"/> In mid-1985, he was hired away from KZFM to be the lead DJ for [[WQNU|WRKA]]'s morning-drive radio broadcast in [[Louisville, Kentucky]].<ref name="Salon-22Sep09"/> His four-hour weekday show was called ''Captain Beck and the A-Team''.<ref name="timestein">{{cite magazine|first=Joel|last=Stein|url=http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1903967,00.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090614073746/http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1903967,00.html|archive-date=June 14, 2009|title=Heeeere's Glenn! When the Lunatic Fringe Tries Comedy|magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]]|location=New York City|date=June 12, 2009|access-date=September 10, 2009}}</ref> 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.<ref name = beingglenn/> It slipped to third in the market and Beck left abruptly in 1987 amid a dispute with WRKA management.<ref>{{cite news|first=Alexander|last=Zaitchek|url=https://www.salon.com/2009/09/22/glenn_beck_two/|title=Glenn Beck becomes damaged goods|work=[[Salon.com]]|publisher=Salon Media Group|location=San Francisco, California|date=September 22, 2009|access-date=March 28, 2018|archive-date=April 25, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230425071837/https://www.salon.com/2009/09/22/glenn_beck_two/|url-status=live}}</ref>

Months later, Beck was hired by [[Phoenix, Arizona|Phoenix]] [[Top-40]] station [[KYOT|KOY-FM]], then known as Y-95. Beck was partnered with [[Arizona]] native Tim Hattrick to co-host a local "[[morning zoo]]" program.<ref name="Salon-23Sep09"/> 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]] and [[publicity stunts]], 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]].<ref name="Salon-22Sep09"/> In 1989, Beck resigned from Y-95 to accept a job in Houston at [[KRBE]], known as Power 104. He was fired in 1990 due to poor ratings.<ref name="Salon-22Sep09"/>

Beck then moved to [[Baltimore]], [[Maryland]], and the city's leading [[Top-40]] station, [[WZFT#B-104|WBSB]], known as B104. There, he partnered with [[Blaze Media|Pat Gray]], a morning [[Disc Jockey|DJ]]. During his tenure at B104, Beck was arrested and jailed for [[speeding]] in his [[DMC DeLorean|DeLorean]].<ref name="Salon-23Sep09"/> According to a former associate, Beck was "completely out of it" when a station manager went to [[bail]] him out.<ref name="Salon-23Sep09"/> After Gray and Beck were fired, they spent six months in Baltimore, planning their next move. In early 1992, they moved to [[WKCI-FM]] (KC101), a [[Top-40]] radio station in [[New Haven, Connecticut]].<ref name="Salon-23Sep09"/> 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]] sound effect and having executive producer Alf Gatineau mock a Chinese accent. That incident led to protests by activist groups.<ref name="Mocking Asians">{{cite news|last=Wong|first=Stacy|title=Station Apologizes For Mocking Asians|url=https://www.courant.com/1995/10/20/station-apologizes-for-mocking-asians/|access-date=January 18, 2011|newspaper=[[The Hartford Courant]]|date=October 20, 1995|archive-date=November 9, 2012|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121109022332/http://articles.courant.com/1995-10-20/news/9510200379_1_asian-americans-station-connecticut-asian-american}}</ref> When Gray left the show to move to [[Salt Lake City]], 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.<ref name="Salon-23Sep09"/>

The ''Glenn Beck Program'' first aired in 2000 on [[WFLA (AM)]] in [[Tampa]], and took its afternoon time slot from 18th to first place within a year.<ref>{{cite web|title=About the Glenn Beck Program|url=http://www.glennbeck.com/about/about-glennbeck.shtml|access-date=August 2, 2006|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060720224842/http://www.glennbeck.com/about/about-glennbeck.shtml|archive-date=July 20, 2006}}</ref><ref name="sptimes2001">{{cite news|url=http://www.sptimes.com/News/091801/news_pf/Artsandentertainment/Beck_muscles_out_Dr_L.shtml|title=Beck muscles out Dr. Laura at WFLA|work=[[St. Petersburg Times]]|date=September 18, 2001|access-date=September 10, 2009|archive-date=March 4, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304061052/http://www.sptimes.com/News/091801/news_pf/Artsandentertainment/Beck_muscles_out_Dr_L.shtml|url-status=live}}</ref> In January 2002, [[Premiere Radio Networks]] launched the show nationwide on 47 stations. The show then moved to [[Philadelphia, Pennsylvania]], broadcasting from new flagship station [[WPHT]]. On November 5, 2007, ''[[The New York Times]]'' 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.<ref>{{cite web|title=The Top Talk Radio Audiences|work=Talkers magazine|url=http://www.talkers.com/main/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=17&Itemid=34|access-date=May 6, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080324045418/http://www.talkers.com/main/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=17&Itemid=34|archive-date=March 24, 2008}}</ref> {{as of|2013|07}}, Beck was tied for fourth in the ratings, behind [[Rush Limbaugh]], [[Sean Hannity]], and [[Dave Ramsey]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.talkers.com/images/audiencechart_july13.jpg|title=The Top Talk Radio Audiences: July 2013|work=Talkers Magazine|access-date=July 18, 2013|archive-date=April 30, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230430045130/https://www.talkers.com/images/audiencechart_july13.jpg|url-status=live}}</ref>

=== Television ===
{{See also|Glenn Beck (TV program)}}

In January 2006, [[CNN]]'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".<ref>{{cite news|title=Glenn Beck|url=http://www.cnn.com/CNN/Programs/glenn.beck|access-date=July 30, 2006|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060812084003/http://www.cnn.com/CNN/Programs/glenn.beck/|archive-date=August 12, 2006}}</ref> At the end of his tenure at CNN-HLN, Beck had the second-largest audience, behind [[Nancy Grace]].<ref>{{cite news|last=Stelter|first=Brian|url=http://tvdecoder.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/10/16/beck-leaving-cnn-for-fox-news|title=Beck Leaving CNN for Fox News|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=October 16, 2008|access-date=April 9, 2009|archive-date=March 6, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090306163025/http://tvdecoder.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/10/16/beck-leaving-cnn-for-fox-news/|url-status=live}}</ref> In 2008, he won the [[NAB Marconi Radio Awards|Marconi Radio Award]] for Network Syndicated Personality of the Year.<ref name=MarconiAward/>

In October 2008, it was announced that Beck would join the [[Fox News Channel]], leaving CNN Headline News.<ref name="WashPostKurtz">Kurtz, Howard, [https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/03/15/AR2010031500923_pf.html A Network Divided: The Glenn Beck Factor] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210822020343/https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/03/15/AR2010031500923_pf.html |date=August 22, 2021 }}, ''[[The Washington Post]]'', March 15, 2010</ref> After moving to Fox, Beck hosted ''[[Glenn Beck (TV program)|Glenn Beck]]'', beginning in January 2009, as well as a weekend version.<ref>[http://www.politico.com/blogs/michaelcalderone/1008/Glenn_Beck_joins_Fox_News.html Glenn Beck joins Fox News] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210116042710/http://www.politico.com/blogs/michaelcalderone/1008/Glenn_Beck_joins_Fox_News.html |date=January 16, 2021 }} ''[[Politico]]''. Retrieved on October 16, 2008.</ref> One of his first guests was [[Governor of Alaska|Alaska Governor]] [[Sarah Palin]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.foxnews.com/story/tonight-on-glenn-beck-gov-sarah-palin-wives-of-border-patrol-agents|work=[[Fox News]]|title=Tonight on Glenn Beck: Gov. Sarah Palin, Wives of Border Patrol Agents|date=January 19, 2008|access-date=September 21, 2009|archive-date=February 20, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090220042213/http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,480754,00.html|url-status=live}}</ref> He also had a regular segment on Fridays, "At Your Beck and Call", on the Fox News Channel program ''[[The O'Reilly Factor]]''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://wwwl.billoreilly.com/show;jsessionid=4EF14E3805DC9C3E0BA03E51C3625A22?action=viewTVShow&showID=2401#5|work=billoreilly.com|title=O'Reilly Factor Flash|date=August 7, 2009|access-date=September 21, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110708001350/http://wwwl.billoreilly.com/show%3Bjsessionid%3D4EF14E3805DC9C3E0BA03E51C3625A22?action=viewTVShow&showID=2401#5|archive-date=July 8, 2011}}</ref> {{As of|2009|09}}, Beck's program drew more viewers than all three competing time-slot shows combined on CNN, [[MSNBC]] and [[HLN (TV network)|HLN]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mediabistro.com/tvnewser/ratings|work=mediabistro.com|date=September 15, 2009|title=Ratings|access-date=September 21, 2009|archive-date=September 18, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100918094300/http://www.mediabistro.com/TVNewser/Ratings/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name='LATimesRatings'>{{cite news|first=Matea|last=Gold|title=Fox News' Glenn Beck strikes ratings gold by challenging Barack Obama|date=March 6, 2009|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2009-mar-06-et-foxnews6-story.html|work=[[Los Angeles Times]]|access-date=September 21, 2009|archive-date=January 9, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190109101009/http://articles.latimes.com/2009/mar/06/entertainment/et-foxnews6|url-status=live}}</ref>

Beck's show's high ratings did not come without controversy.<ref name="WashPostKurtz"/> ''[[The Washington Post]]''{{'}}s [[Howard Kurtz]] reported that Beck's use of "distorted or inflammatory rhetoric" had complicated the channel's and its journalists' efforts to neutralize [[White House]] criticism that Fox is not really a news organization.<ref name="WashPostKurtz"/> 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."<ref name="WashPostKurtz"/>

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.<ref>{{cite news|last=Mirkinson|first=Jack|title=Glenn Beck To 'Transition Off' Fox News Program|url=https://huffingtonpost.com/2011/04/06/glenn-beck-to-transition-_n_845573.html|work=[[HuffPost]]|access-date=April 6, 2011|date=April 6, 2011|archive-date=November 1, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181101131859/https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/04/06/glenn-beck-to-transition-_n_845573.html|url-status=live}}</ref> His last day at Fox was later announced as June 30.<ref>{{cite news|work=[[HuffPost]]|url = https://huffingtonpost.com/2011/06/02/glenn-becks-last-day-on-f_n_870284.html|date = June 2, 1011|title = Beck's Last Day On Fox News: June 30|first = Jack|last = Mirkinson|access-date = December 11, 2019|archive-date = March 5, 2017|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170305120324/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/06/02/glenn-becks-last-day-on-f_n_870284.html|url-status = live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |work=[[HuffPost]] |url = https://huffingtonpost.com/2011/06/03/glenn-beck-talks-about-en_n_871127.html |title = Glenn Beck Talks About End Of His Fox News Show |date = June 3, 2011 |first = Jack |last = Mirkinson |access-date = December 11, 2019 |archive-date = October 22, 2016 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20161022065252/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/06/03/glenn-beck-talks-about-en_n_871127.html |url-status = live }}</ref> FNC and Beck announced that he would team with Fox to produce a slate of projects for Fox News and its digital properties.<ref name="Fox News"/> Fox News head [[Roger Ailes]] later referenced Beck's entrepreneurialism and political movement activism, saying, "His [Beck's] goals were different from our goals ... I need people focused on a daily television show."<ref>{{cite news|work=[[Newsweek]]|url = http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2011-06-05/roger-ailes-softer-media-glare-on-fox-news-boss/#|date = June 5, 2011|title = Roger Ailes Plays Nice|author-link = Howard Kurtz|first = Howard|last = Kurtz|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110609012928/http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2011-06-05/roger-ailes-softer-media-glare-on-fox-news-boss/|archive-date=June 9, 2011}}</ref> 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."<ref name="politicolastshow"/> In response to critics who said he was fired, Beck pointed out that his final show was airing live.<ref name="politicolastshow"/> Immediately after the show he did an interview on his new [[GBTV]] internet television channel.<ref name="politicolastshow"/>

==== TheBlaze TV (formerly GBTV) ====
{{Main|TheBlaze TV}}

Beck's Fox News one-hour show ended on June 30, 2011,<ref>{{cite news | title = Glenn Beck's Final Show | publisher= News Corp | url = http://www.foxnews.com/on-air/glenn-beck/transcript/glenn-becks-final-show | date=June 30, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110704223929/http://www.foxnews.com/on-air/glenn-beck/transcript/glenn-becks-final-show|archive-date=July 4, 2011}}</ref> and a new two-hour show began his television network, which started as a subscription-based [[internet TV]] network, [[TheBlaze TV]], originally called GBTV, on September 12, 2011.<ref>Stelter, Brian (June 6, 2011), [https://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/07/business/media/07beck.html?_r=1 "Moving Online, Beck Will Charge Viewers a Fee"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230425070336/https://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/07/business/media/07beck.html?_r=1 |date=April 25, 2023 }}, ''[[The New York Times]]'',</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.gbtv.com/ |title=GBTV home page |publisher=Gbtv.com |date=October 22, 2012 |access-date=November 1, 2012 |archive-date=January 28, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110128092438/http://gbtv.com/  }}</ref> Using a subscription model, it was estimated that Beck was on track to generate $27 million in his first year of operation.<ref>{{cite web  |url=http://gigaom.com/video/gbtv-subscriber-numbers/ |title=How profitable is Glenn Beck's new web TV venture? |publisher=Online Video News – Gigaom.com |date=September 12, 2011 |access-date=November 1, 2012  |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120829093449/http://gigaom.com/video/gbtv-subscriber-numbers/ |archive-date=August 29, 2012 }}</ref> This was later upgraded to $40 million by ''The Wall Street Journal'' when subscriptions topped 300,000.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052970203961204577269230271521006 | work=[[The Wall Street Journal]] | first=Christopher S. | last=Stewart | title=Glenn Beck Rallies Troops For Revolution Against TV | date=March 14, 2012 | access-date=August 3, 2017 | archive-date=May 16, 2023 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230516201907/https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052970203961204577269230271521006 | url-status=live }}</ref>

=== Books ===
Mercury Ink has a co-publishing deal with [[Simon & Schuster]] and was founded by Glenn Beck in 2011 as the publishing imprint of [[Mercury Radio Arts]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/book-deals/article/47483-glenn-beck-re-ups-with-s-s-launches-new-imprint.html|title=Glenn Beck Re-Ups with S&S; Launches New Imprint|newspaper=PublishersWeekly.com|access-date=December 30, 2016|archive-date=December 30, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161230232421/http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/book-deals/article/47483-glenn-beck-re-ups-with-s-s-launches-new-imprint.html|url-status=live}}</ref> 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 list|New York Times best seller]] [[Richard Paul Evans]].

Beck has reached No. 1 on ''[[The New York Times]]'' [[New York Times Bestseller List|Bestseller List]] in four separate categories {{as of|2010|lc=on}}: Hardcover Non-Fiction,<ref name="TheWrap">Stableford, Dylan, [https://web.archive.org/web/20091005011859/http://www.thewrap.com/ind-column/glenn-becks-idiots-top-times-bestseller-list-too-8092 Glenn Beck's 'Idiots' to Top Times Bestseller List, Too], The Wrap, October 1, 2009</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/09/books/bestseller/1209besthardnonfiction.html |title=Best Sellers: Hardcover Nonfiction |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |date=December 9, 2007 |access-date=February 21, 2017 |archive-date=October 21, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151021220409/http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/09/books/bestseller/1209besthardnonfiction.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Paperback Non-Fiction,<ref name="TheWrap"/> Hardcover Fiction,<ref name="PocketBooks2003">{{cite web|url=http://www.mediabistro.com/tvnewser/fnc/glenn_becks_the_christmas_sweater_to_debut_at_1__101221.asp |title=Glenn Beck's 'The Christmas Sweater' to Debut at #1 | work=TVNEWSER |first=Chris |last= Ariens |date=November 19, 2008 |access-date=March 9, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090303090118/http://www.mediabistro.com/tvnewser/fnc/glenn_becks_the_christmas_sweater_to_debut_at_1__101221.asp|archive-date=March 3, 2009}}</ref> and Children's Picture Books.<ref name="nytimes.com">[https://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/15/books/bestseller/bestchildren.html Best Sellers : Children's Books], ''[[The New York Times]]'', November 5, 2009.</ref>

Beck has a chapter giving advice in [[Tim Ferriss]]'s book ''[[Tools of Titans]]''.

=== Stage shows and speeches ===
{{quote box
 | quote  = When Beck meets his fans, he does so with the gusto of a public figure engaging his constituents. People he meets often give him presents and notes. He signs autographs, poses for photos. He has perfected the Everyman shtick that presidential candidates spend years trying to master in places like Iowa.
 | source = –''[[The New York Times Magazine]]'', 2010<ref name = beingglenn/>
 | width = 34%
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}}

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.com|Salon]]'' magazine's [[Steve Almond]] 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".<ref name="SalonAlmond">[[Steve Almond|Almond, Steve]] (September 12, 2009), [http://www.salon.com/books/feature/2009/09/12/rightwing_bestsellers/print.html "Glenn Beck is the Future of Literary Fiction"] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110629105952/http://www.salon.com/books/feature/2009/09/12/rightwing_bestsellers/print.html |date=June 29, 2011 }}, ''[[Salon Magazine]]''</ref> A show from the ''Beck '08 Unelectable Tour'' was shown in around 350 U.S. movie theaters.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://transcripts.cnn.com/show/gb/date/2008-07-16/segment/01|title=Transcripts|publisher=[[CNN]]|access-date=October 3, 2009|archive-date=May 1, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110501041414/http://edition.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0807/16/gb.01.html|url-status=live}}</ref>
{{multiple image|align=|direction=vertical|footer=|footer_align=|image1="Mad Hater".jpg|width1=210 |caption1=|image2=Glenn Beck Day supporters.jpg|width2=210|caption2=In Beck's hometown of [[Mt. Vernon, Washington]], supporters and detractors hold handmade signs on the day Beck was honored by the mayor.}}
The finale of 2009's ''Common Sense Comedy Tour'' was simulcast in over 440 theaters.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/06/arts/television/06beck.html |title=Laughing at Liberals (and Hawking That Book) |last=Hale |first=Mike |date=June 5, 2009 |work=[[The New York Times]]|page=C1 |access-date=October 3, 2009  |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131021173259/http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/06/arts/television/06beck.html |archive-date=October 21, 2013 }}</ref> The events have drawn 200,000 fans in recent years.<ref name="Time09">{{cite magazine|last=Von Drehle|first=David|date=September 28, 2009|title=Mad Man: Is Glenn Beck Bad for America?|magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]]|volume=174|issue=12|page=30|issn=0040-781X|url=http://www.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,1924348,00.html?xid=rss-topstories|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090922171815/http://www.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,1924348,00.html?xid=rss-topstories|archive-date=September 22, 2009|access-date=September 18, 2009}} ([https://web.archive.org/web/20090922170227/http://www.time.com/time/covers/0,16641,20090928,00.html cover])</ref>

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]]. On July 4, 2007, he hosted the 2007 [[Toyota]] Tundra "[[Stadium of Fire]]" in [[Provo, Utah]]. America's Freedom Foundation presents the annual event at [[LaVell Edwards Stadium]] at [[Brigham Young University]].<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20070623005003/en/Glenn-Beck-Host-2007-Toyota-Tundra-Stadium#.VcQSg_m9D2s|title=Glenn Beck to Host 2007 Toyota Tundra Stadium of Fire|last=Press release|date=June 23, 2007|work=Business Wire|access-date=August 6, 2015|archive-date=August 7, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150807020628/http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20070623005003/en/Glenn-Beck-Host-2007-Toyota-Tundra-Stadium#.VcQSg_m9D2s|url-status=live}}</ref> In May 2008, Beck gave the keynote speech at the [[National Rifle Association|NRA]] convention in [[Louisville, Kentucky]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://nra.org|title=National Rifle Association – NRA Website Gateway|publisher=NRA|access-date=April 9, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180712184112/http://www.nra.org/|archive-date=July 12, 2018}}</ref>

In late August 2009, the mayor of Beck's hometown, [[Mount Vernon, Washington]], announced that he would award Beck the [[Freedom of the City|Key to the City]], designating September 26, 2009, as "Glenn Beck Day". Due to local opposition, the city council voted unanimously to disassociate itself from the award.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2009930887_beck24m.html|work=seattletimes. NiSource.com|title=Mount Vernon council distances itself from honor for talk-show host|first=Erik|last=Lacitis|date=September 24, 2009|access-date=October 2, 2009|archive-date=September 27, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090927085850/http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2009930887_beck24m.html|url-status=live}}</ref> 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]]'s "Take the Field with Glenn Beck" at Seattle's [[Safeco Field]].<ref name="key">{{cite news|url=http://www.heraldnet.com/article/20090927/NEWS03/709279846 |title=Glenn Beck gets ceremonial key to hometown city |date=September 27, 2009 |agency=[[Associated Press]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110430161857/http://www.heraldnet.com/article/20090927/NEWS03/709279846 |archive-date=April 30, 2011 }}</ref>

In December 2009, Beck produced a one-night special film, ''The Christmas Sweater: A Return to Redemption''.<ref>Childers, Joseph, [https://web.archive.org/web/20100202175949/http://trueslant.com/childers/2009/12/04/glenn-becks-christmas-sweater-a-viewers-guide/ "Glenn Beck's 'Christmas Sweater': A Viewer's Guide"], December 4, 2009, trueslant.com</ref> In January and February 2010, he teamed with fellow Fox News host [[Bill O'Reilly (political commentator)|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.<ref>The movie theater broadcast was originally slated to be a live show originating from [[Norfolk, Virginia]], but due to the winter storm in Virginia, the recorded show was broadcast instead.</ref>

In July 2013, Beck produced and hosted a one-night stage event, ''Man in the Moon'', held at the [[USANA Amphitheatre]] in [[West Valley City, Utah]]. 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, the mission of which is to "restore the human spirit by encouraging dependence on God, providing humanitarian aid, preserving heritage, and empowering all to stand for truth."<ref name=artnet>{{cite web | url=https://news.artnet.com/art-world/glenn-beck-1716267 | title=A Whistleblower Busted the Lincoln Museum for Improperly Renting a Copy of the Gettysburg Address to Glenn Beck for $50,000 | date=November 26, 2019 | access-date=July 8, 2023 | archive-date=July 8, 2023 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230708161816/https://news.artnet.com/art-world/glenn-beck-1716267 | url-status=live }}</ref> 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]].<ref>{{cite news|work=[[Boston Herald]] |url=http://www.bostonherald.com/jobfind/news/media/view.bg?articleid=1373648&srvc=rss |title=Glenn Beck's T-party: Commentator shapes clothing line for conservative views |first1=Katie |last1=Sampson |first2=Katy |last2=Jordan |date=October 16, 2011  |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111219064654/http://www.bostonherald.com/jobfind/news/media/view.bg?articleid=1373648 |archive-date=December 19, 2011 }}</ref>

In July 2014, after tens of thousands of undocumented immigrant children crossed into Texas via the [[Mexico–United States border|Southern United States border]], unaccompanied by parents, Beck announced that he, Senator [[Mike Lee]], and Representative [[Louie Gohmert]] would travel to the U.S.–Mexico border with Mercury One. He said they would bring [[Semi-trailer truck|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]], 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."<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/07/09/glenn-beck-border-event_n_5570926.html|title=Glenn Beck To Take Tractor-Trailers Full Of Food, Teddy Bears To The U.S.–Mexico Border|last=Lavender|first=Paige|date=July 9, 2014|work=[[HuffPost]]|access-date=June 7, 2018|archive-date=January 19, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170119091532/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/07/09/glenn-beck-border-event_n_5570926.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

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.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://thenazarenefund.org/about-us/?location=ca|title=Two Years In – The Nazarene Fund|newspaper=The Nazarene Fund|access-date=November 26, 2018|archive-date=September 22, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180922121150/https://thenazarenefund.org/about-us/?location=ca|url-status=live}}</ref>

== Projects and rallies ==
=== 2003 Rallies for America ===
In 2003, during the early stages of the [[2003 Invasion of Iraq]], Beck called for and helped fund "Rallies for America" in cities across the country to support American troops and counter the [[Protests against the Iraq War|anti-Iraq War movement]]. Around 8,000 people attended the first rally in [[Cleveland, Ohio]], and around 150,000 people are believed to have attended the rallies in total. At the [[Washington DC]] rally, letters from President [[George W. Bush]] and actor [[Arnold Schwarzenegger]] were read. <ref name="paulsingerusatoday">{{cite web |last1=Singer |first1=Paul |title=Voices: Glenn Beck's 2003 Cleveland rally was a hint |url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/voices/2016/07/17/voices-glenn-becks-2003-cleveland-rally-hint/87117470/ |publisher=[[USA Today]] |access-date=17 November 2024 |ref=paulsingerusa |date=17 July 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Ahrens |first1=Frank |title='Rallies for America' Draw Scrutiny |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/business/2003/03/26/rallies-for-america-draw-scrutiny/9f460b9c-049a-45b1-b43e-0ecad7dcf196/ |access-date=17 November 2024 |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |date=25 March 2003 |ref=abramswapo}}</ref>

=== 9–12 Project and Tea Party protests ===
{{Main|9-12 Project}}

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]].<ref name="The Star 2009-04-04">{{cite news|url=https://www.thestar.com/article/613670|title=This Fox TV host is mad as hell|last=Potter|first=Mitch|date=April 4, 2009|work=The Star|access-date=September 15, 2009|location=Toronto|archive-date=May 1, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110501061618/http://www.thestar.com/article/613670|url-status=live}}</ref> The [[Colorado]] 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 ===
{{Main|Restoring Honor rally}}

Beck promoted and hosted the [[Restoring Honor rally]] at the [[Lincoln Memorial]] in [[Washington, D.C.]], on August 28, 2010. The rally—which purported to embrace religious faith and patriotism—was co-sponsored by the [[Special Operations Warrior Foundation]], promoted by [[FreedomWorks]], and supported by the [[Tea Party movement]].<ref name="ABC827">[https://abcnews.go.com/print?id=11491130 Glenn Beck's 'Restoring Honor' Rally Draws Tea Party Activists] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200801033717/https://abcnews.go.com/print?id=11491130 |date=August 1, 2020 }} by Huma Khan, ''[[ABC News (United States)|ABC News]]'', August 27, 2010</ref> Attendance was estimated at 87,000 (± 9,000) based on aerial photos.<ref name = "CBS87">[https://www.cbsnews.com/news/glenn-beck-restoring-honor-rally-crowd-estimate-explained/ Glenn Beck "Restoring Honor" Rally Crowd Estimate Explained]  by ''CBS News''</ref>

=== "America's First Christmas" ===
In December 2010, Beck went to [[Wilmington, Ohio]], 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".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.foxnews.com/on-air/glenn-beck/transcript/finding-true-meaning-christmas-wilmington-ohio|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101219121742/http://www.foxnews.com/on-air/glenn-beck/transcript/finding-true-meaning-christmas-wilmington-ohio|archive-date=December 19, 2010|title=Finding the True Meaning of Christmas in Wilmington, Ohio – FOXNews.com|website=[[Fox News]]|date=December 19, 2010}}</ref> He hosted an event and his radio and television shows from the local theater.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.wlwt.com/r/26141237/detail.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120406214543/http://www.wlwt.com/r/26141237/detail.html|archive-date=April 6, 2012|title=Glenn Beck Puts Spotlight On Wilmington – Cincinnati News Story – WLWT Cincinnati|date=April 6, 2012}}</ref>

=== Restoring Courage 2011 international tour ===
{{Main|Restoring Courage tour}}

Beck headlined his "Restoring Courage" events in [[Jerusalem]], Israel, in August 2011 in a campaign he said was designed to encourage people worldwide "to stand with the Jewish people".<ref name="usnewsis">{{cite news|url=https://www.usnews.com/opinion/articles/2011/05/18/will-glenn-becks-israel-rally-hurt-us-foreign-policy|title=Will Glenn Beck's Israel Rally Hurt U.S. Foreign Policy?|first=Mallie Jane|last=Kim|work=[[U.S. News & World Report]]|date=May 18, 2011|access-date=May 20, 2011|archive-date=May 21, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110521223512/http://www.usnews.com/opinion/articles/2011/05/18/will-glenn-becks-israel-rally-hurt-us-foreign-policy|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.jpost.com/DiplomacyAndPolitics/Article.aspx?id=221050|title=Glenn Beck heading to Israel again – for summer rally|first=Jordana|last=Horn|work=[[The Jerusalem Post]]|date=May 18, 2011|access-date=May 20, 2011|archive-date=May 19, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110519202144/http://www.jpost.com/DiplomacyAndPolitics/Article.aspx?id=221050|url-status=live}}</ref> After Jerusalem, Beck visited [[Cape Town]], South Africa, and was scheduled to visit Venezuela.<ref>{{cite news|newspaper=[[The Washington Times]]|url = http://communities.washingtontimes.com/neighborhood/young-conservative-and-spicy/2011/aug/27/glenn-beck-restores-courage-israel-inspires-global/|title = Glenn Beck restores courage in Israel, inspires global movement|first = Gabriella|last = Hoffman|date = August 27, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120106075535/http://communities.washingtontimes.com/neighborhood/young-conservative-and-spicy/2011/aug/27/glenn-beck-restores-courage-israel-inspires-global/|archive-date=January 6, 2012}}</ref>

=== 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 [evangelicals]", according to a pre-election article in ''[[The New York Times]]''. 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'':

<blockquote>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.<ref name=NYT01>Chozick, Amy, [https://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/04/us/politics/beck-acts-as-a-bridge-between-romney-and-evangelical-christians.html "Beck Acts as a Bridge Between Romney and Evangelical Christians"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180922202617/https://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/04/us/politics/beck-acts-as-a-bridge-between-romney-and-evangelical-christians.html |date=September 22, 2018 }}, ''[[The New York Times]]'', November 3, 2012. Retrieved 2012-11-04.</ref></blockquote>

=== 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."<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.businessinsider.com/glenn-beck-tea-party-restoring-love-rally-photos-2012-7#these-fans-look-totally-in-awe-11|title=Glenn Beck's 'Restoring' Love Rally Proves The Tea Party Isn't Dead|website=[[Business Insider]]|access-date=November 26, 2018|archive-date=November 26, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181126180929/https://www.businessinsider.com/glenn-beck-tea-party-restoring-love-rally-photos-2012-7#these-fans-look-totally-in-awe-11|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z4jY8z-hnCU| archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211031/z4jY8z-hnCU| archive-date=2021-10-31 | url-status=live|title=Glenn Beck – Restoring Love – Final Speech|last=Kenneth Smith|date=July 28, 2012|access-date=November 26, 2018|via=YouTube}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

=== 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]], [[Alveda King]], and [[David Barton (author)|David Barton]].

== Political views ==
Beck has called himself a [[Libertarian conservatism|conservative with libertarian leanings]].<ref>{{cite news|first=Katie|last=Couric|author-link=Katie Couric|work=[[CBS News]]|url=http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=5330485n&tag=cbsnewsVideoArea.0|title=@katiecouric: Glenn Beck|at=1:45|format=[[podcast]]|quote=[Couric]: How would you describe your brand of politics? [Beck]: I don't know, ummm ... libertarian, but I hack the libertarians off ... I still believe in a strong national defence. Though I'm becoming more and more libertarian every day.|date=September 22, 2010|access-date=December 12, 2010|archive-date=November 30, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101130195834/http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=5330485n&tag=cbsnewsVideoArea.0|url-status=live}}</ref> Among his core values, he lists personal responsibility, private charity, the [[right to life]], [[freedom of religion]], [[limited government]], and the family as the cornerstone of society.<ref name='Common Sense'>''Glenn Beck's Common Sense: A Case Against an Out-Of-Control Government, Inspired By Thomas Paine''</ref> 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."<ref name="cnnbeck">{{cite news|url=http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/06/25/beck.conservatives/index.html|title=Commentary: Obama no, McCain maybe|publisher=[[CNN]]|last=Beck|first=Glenn|access-date=September 10, 2009|archive-date=November 25, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201125122711/http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/06/25/beck.conservatives/index.html|url-status=live}}</ref> He supports individual gun ownership rights, opposes [[Gun politics in the United States|gun control]] legislation, and supports the [[National Rifle Association|NRA]] and its state chapters.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.glennbeck.com/content/articles/article/198/9902|title=Glenn Beck: Gun Week!|work=Glenn Beck |access-date=November 15, 2008|date=May 12, 2008|archive-date=January 25, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210125232135/https://www.glennbeck.com/content/articles/article/198/9902/}}</ref>

Beck rejects the [[scientific consensus on climate change]].<ref name="inconvenient">{{cite book|last=Beck|first=Glenn|title=An Inconvenient Book|publisher=[[Simon & Schuster]]|year= 2007|isbn=978-1-4391-6857-8|title-link=An Inconvenient Book}}</ref> He contests the evidence, and has said, "There is more proof for the [[resurrection of Jesus]] than man-made climate change."<ref name="inconvenient"/> He views the [[American Clean Energy and Security Act]] as a form of [[wealth redistribution]], and he has promoted a petition rejecting the [[Kyoto Protocol]].<ref>[http://www.glennbeck.com/content/articles/article/196/10221/ Glenn Beck: Global Warming Petition Project] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201025114649/http://www.glennbeck.com/content/articles/article/196/10221/ |date=October 25, 2020 }}, GlennBeck.com. Retrieved September 3, 2009.</ref>

Although opposed to illegal immigration, Beck announced in 2014 that Mercury One would make efforts to provide food and relief to the [[children's immigration crisis|large numbers of migrant children]].<ref>{{cite news|url = https://huffingtonpost.com/2014/07/09/glenn-beck-border-event_n_5570926.html|title = Glenn Beck To Take Tractor-Trailers Full Of Food, Teddy Bears To The U.S.–Mexico Border|last = Lavender|first = Paige|date = July 9, 2014|access-date = July 16, 2014|work=[[HuffPost]]|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140711082938/https://huffingtonpost.com/2014/07/09/glenn-beck-border-event_n_5570926.html|archive-date = July 11, 2014|url-status = live}}</ref>

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]] and [[Ted Cruz]].<ref name=RunFrom>{{cite news|url=http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2015/mar/18/glenn-beck-run-from-the-republican-party/#ixzz3UrFknFqO|title=Glenn Beck: 'Run from the Republican Party'|date=March 18, 2015|newspaper=[[The Washington Times]]|access-date=March 19, 2015|archive-date=March 19, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150319123634/http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2015/mar/18/glenn-beck-run-from-the-republican-party/#ixzz3UrFknFqO}}</ref>

Beck endorsed Cruz for president of the United States in 2016.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://edition.cnn.com/2016/09/26/politics/glenn-beck-ted-cruz-interview/|title=Glenn Beck apologizes to listeners for backing Ted Cruz|last=Reyes|first=Samantha|date=September 27, 2016|publisher=[[CNN]]|access-date=September 27, 2016|archive-date=September 28, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160928170720/http://edition.cnn.com/2016/09/26/politics/glenn-beck-ted-cruz-interview/|url-status=live}}</ref> In October 2016, Beck called opposing Donald Trump a "moral, ethical choice".<ref>{{Cite web|last=Lim|first=Naomi|date=2016-10-11|title=Glenn Beck: Opposing Trump is 'moral' choice — even if Clinton is elected|url=https://www.cnn.com/2016/10/11/politics/glenn-beck-hillary-clinton-moral-ethical-choice/index.html|access-date=2021-05-08|website=[[CNN]] Politics|archive-date=May 10, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210510143120/https://www.cnn.com/2016/10/11/politics/glenn-beck-hillary-clinton-moral-ethical-choice/index.html|url-status=live}}</ref> On the campaign trail in support of Cruz, Beck said, "If Donald Trump wins, it is going to be a snowball to hell."<ref>{{Cite news|last=Flegenheimer|first=Matt|date=2016-01-23|title=In Support of Ted Cruz, Glenn Beck Slams Donald Trump|work=[[The New York Times]]|url=https://www.nytimes.com/politics/first-draft/2016/01/23/in-support-of-ted-cruz-glenn-beck-slams-donald-trump/|access-date=2021-05-08|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=January 24, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210124220744/https://www.nytimes.com/politics/first-draft/2016/01/23/in-support-of-ted-cruz-glenn-beck-slams-donald-trump/|url-status=live}}</ref> After Cruz dropped out of the race, Beck endorsed independent [[Evan McMullin]].<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Beinart |first=Peter |date=February 15, 2017 |title=Why Glenn Beck Is Sorry About Donald Trump |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2017/01/glenn-becks-regrets/508763/ |magazine=[[The Atlantic]] |access-date=February 17, 2022 |archive-date=February 17, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220217220526/https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2017/01/glenn-becks-regrets/508763/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Warren |first=James |date=December 9, 2016 |title=GLENN BECK IS VERY, VERY SORRY FOR DONALD TRUMP |url=https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2016/12/glenn-beck-apologizes-for-donald-trump |magazine=[[Vanity Fair (magazine)|Vanity Fair]] |access-date=February 17, 2022 |archive-date=October 22, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211022142339/https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2016/12/glenn-beck-apologizes-for-donald-trump |url-status=live }}</ref>

=== Opposition to progressivism ===
{{quote box
 | quote = What's the difference between a communist or socialist and a progressive? Revolution or evolution? One requires a gun and the other eats away slowly.
 | source = –Glenn Beck, keynote address at the February 2010 [[Conservative Political Action Conference]]<ref name="WeekSt"/><ref name="CPAC"/>
 | width = 34%
 | align = right
}}

During his 2010 keynote speech to the [[Conservative Political Action Conference]] (CPAC), Beck wrote ''[[progressivism]]'' 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!"<ref name="WeekSt">[[Matthew Continetti|Continetti, Matthew]] [http://www.weeklystandard.com/print/articles/two-faces-tea-party The Two Faces of the Tea Party] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151021215917/http://www.weeklystandard.com/print/articles/two-faces-tea-party |date=October 21, 2015 }}, ''[[The Weekly Standard]]'', Vol. 15, No. 39, June 28, 2010</ref><ref name="CPAC">''[[Mediaite]]'', [http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/4881432 Full Video: Glenn Beck's CPAC 2010 Keynote Address] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201218171039/http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/4881432 |date=December 18, 2020 }}.</ref> According to Beck, the [[Progressivism in the United States|progressive]] ideas of men such as [[John Dewey]], [[Herbert Croly]], and [[Walter Lippmann]], influenced the presidencies of [[Theodore Roosevelt]] and [[Woodrow Wilson]], eventually becoming the foundation for President [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]]'s [[New Deal]].<ref name="WeekSt"/> Beck has said that such progressivism infects both main political parties and threatens to "destroy America as it was originally conceived".<ref name="WeekSt"/> 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."<ref name="WeekSt"/>

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.<ref name="AmerPros">Schmitt, Mark (June 7, 2010), [http://www.prospect.org/cs/articles?article=learning_about_the_left_from_glenn_beck "Learning About the Left From Glenn Beck"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110810212902/http://prospect.org/cs/articles?article=learning_about_the_left_from_glenn_beck |date=August 10, 2011 }} ''[[The American Prospect]]''</ref><ref name="5/17/2010">[http://www.glennbeck.com/content/articles/article/198/40758/ "Crime Inc.: Redistribution of Wealth"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160221025401/http://www.glennbeck.com/content/articles/article/198/40758/ |date=February 21, 2016 }}, ''[[Glenn Beck Program]]'', May 17, 2010</ref><ref>[https://www.foxnews.com/story/glenn-beck-exposing-crime-inc {{"'}}Glenn Beck': Exposing Crime Inc."], [[Fox News]], May 14, 2010</ref> Some of these include [[Cass Sunstein]], [[Van Jones]], [[Andy Stern]], [[John Podesta]], [[Wade Rathke]], [[Joel Rogers]] and [[Francis Fox Piven]].<ref name="AmerPros"/><ref>[http://www.glennbeck.com/content/articles/article/198/40758/ "Crime Inc. Bios"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160221025401/http://www.glennbeck.com/content/articles/article/198/40758/ |date=February 21, 2016 }}, ''[[Glenn Beck Program]]''</ref> Other figures Beck has tied to "Crime Inc." include [[Al Gore]], [[Franklin Raines]],<ref name="4/30/2010">[http://www.glennbeck.com/content/articles/article/198/39847/ "Glenn Beck: Crime Inc."] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210226234542/http://www.glennbeck.com/content/articles/article/198/39847/ |date=February 26, 2021 }}, ''[[Glenn Beck Program]]'', April 30, 2010</ref> [[Maurice Strong]], [[George Soros]],<ref name="6/22/2010">[https://www.foxnews.com/story/glenn-beck-soros-poised-to-profit {{"'}}Glenn Beck:' Soros Poised to Profit?"]  [[Fox News]], June 22, 2010</ref> [[John Holdren]] and [[Barack Obama]].<ref name="5/17/2010"/> 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]], [[Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now|ACORN]], Apollo Alliance, [[Tides Center]], [[Chicago Climate Exchange]], [[Generation Investment Management]], [[Enterprise Community Partners]], [[Petrobras]], [[Center for American Progress]], and the [[Service Employees International Union|SEIU]].<ref name="5/17/2010"/><ref name="6/22/2010"/> In his quest to root out these "progressives", Beck has compared himself to Israeli [[Nazi hunters]], 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."<ref name = beingglenn/> Beck compared Al Gore to the Nazis while equating the campaign against global warming to the Nazi campaign against the Jews.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/09122008/transcript1.html |title=Bill Moyers Journal. Transcripts |publisher=PBS |access-date=December 31, 2013 |archive-date=October 15, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141015113824/http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/09122008/transcript1.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

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."<ref name=":5">{{cite book |last1=Dentith |first1=Matthew R. X. |url=https://link.springer.com/book/10.1057/9781137363169 |title=The Philosophy of Conspiracy Theories |date=2014 |isbn=978-1-349-47288-8 |pages=7, 14, 36 |doi=10.1057/9781137363169 |access-date=March 10, 2022 |archive-date=April 4, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220404164826/https://link.springer.com/book/10.1057/9781137363169 |url-status=live }}</ref>

Progressive historian [[Sean Wilentz]] has denounced what he calls Beck's progressive-themed [[conspiracy theories]] and "gross historical inaccuracies", contending that Beck is merely echoing the decades-old "[[Far-right politics|right-wing extremism]]" of the [[John Birch Society]].<ref name="NPR1013">[https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=130534982 "Glenn Beck: Drawing On 1950s Extremism?"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180728035900/https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=130534982 |date=July 28, 2018 }}, [[Fresh Air|''Fresh Air'' from WHYY]] on [[NPR]], October 13, 2010</ref> 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:

{{blockquote|Glenn Beck is trying to give viewers a version of American history that is supposedly hidden. Supposedly, all we historians{{snd}} left, right and center{{snd}} have been doing for the past 100 years is to keep true American history from you. And that true American history is what Glenn Beck is teaching. It's a version of history that is beyond skewed. But of course, that's what Beck expects us to say. He lives in a kind of ''Alice in Wonderland'' world, where if people who actually know the history say what he's teaching is junk, he says, 'That's because you're trying to hide the truth.'<ref name="NPR1013"/>}}

Conservative [[David Frum]], a former speechwriter for President [[George W. Bush]], has also alleged Beck's propensity for [[negationism]], 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."<ref name = beingglenn/>

In 2020, Beck argued that the election of [[2020 Democratic Party presidential primaries|Democratic presidential candidate]] [[Bernie Sanders]] could lead to "[[another Holocaust]]."<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.thedailybeast.com/glenn-beck-bernie-sanders-revolution-could-lead-to-another-holocaust|title=Glenn Beck: Bernie Sanders 'Revolution' Could Lead to 'Another Holocaust'|last=Wilstein|first=Matt|date=2020-02-29|website=[[The Daily Beast]]|access-date=2020-02-29|archive-date=August 1, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200801014851/https://www.thedailybeast.com/glenn-beck-bernie-sanders-revolution-could-lead-to-another-holocaust|url-status=live}}</ref>

=== Barack Obama and the Obama administration ===
Beck promoted numerous conspiracy theories and falsehoods about President [[Barack Obama]] and the Obama administration.<ref name=:4>* {{Cite book|url=https://www.palgrave.com/gp/book/9781137363152|title=The Philosophy of Conspiracy Theories|first=Matthew R. X.|last=Denith|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan|year=2014|isbn=978-1-137-36316-9|pages=7, 36|access-date=January 14, 2020|archive-date=January 14, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200114061128/https://www.palgrave.com/gp/book/9781137363152|url-status=live}}
* {{Cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/politics/wp/2017/11/15/the-brave-new-world-of-political-conspiracy-theory-illustrations/|title=The brave new world of political conspiracy-theory illustrations|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171115231655/https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/politics/wp/2017/11/15/the-brave-new-world-of-political-conspiracy-theory-illustrations/|archive-date=2017-11-15|access-date=October 11, 2019}}</ref><ref name=:3>{{cite magazine|url=http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2016/11/14/glenn-beck-tries-out-decency|title=Glenn Beck Tries Out Decency|last=Schmidle|first=Nicholas|date=November 14, 2016|magazine=[[The New Yorker]]|access-date=November 11, 2016|location=New York City|archive-date=November 10, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161110153507/http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2016/11/14/glenn-beck-tries-out-decency|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Harris">{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/2010/jun/13/glenn-beck-overton-window-obama|title=Glenn Beck puts his conspiracy theories into new novel The Overton Window|last=Harris|first=Paul|date=June 12, 2010|work=The Observer|access-date=October 12, 2019|issn=0029-7712}}</ref><ref>* {{Cite web|url=https://www.politifact.com/punditfact/statements/2013/nov/06/glenn-beck/beck-says-obama-knew-50-americans-would-lose-healt/|title=Glenn Beck says Barack Obama knew that 50% of Americans would lose health insurance|website=@politifact|access-date=October 12, 2019|archive-date=October 12, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191012202503/https://www.politifact.com/punditfact/statements/2013/nov/06/glenn-beck/beck-says-obama-knew-50-americans-would-lose-healt/|url-status=live}}
* {{Cite web|url=https://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2009/nov/12/glenn-beck/glenn-beck-claims-health-care-bill-includes-insura/|title=Glenn Beck claims health care bill includes insurance for dogs|website=@politifact|access-date=October 12, 2019|archive-date=October 12, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191012202504/https://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2009/nov/12/glenn-beck/glenn-beck-claims-health-care-bill-includes-insura/|url-status=live}}
* {{Cite web|url=https://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2009/jul/29/glenn-beck/glenn-beck-claims-science-czar-john-holdren-propos/|title=Glenn Beck claims science czar John Holdren proposed forced abortions and putting sterilants in the drinking water to control population|website=@politifact|access-date=October 12, 2019|archive-date=October 12, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191012202504/https://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2009/jul/29/glenn-beck/glenn-beck-claims-science-czar-john-holdren-propos/|url-status=live}}</ref> He suggested that Obama was building FEMA concentration camps to put opponents in,<ref name=":2">{{Cite book|url=https://global.oup.com/academic/product/the-outrage-industry-9780190498467?cc=us&lang=en&|title=The Outrage Industry: Political Opinion Media and the New Incivility|year=2016|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-049846-7|series=Studies in Postwar American Political Development|location=Oxford; New York|pages=5, 14, 47–48|access-date=January 11, 2020|archive-date=March 27, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210327170832/https://global.oup.com/academic/product/the-outrage-industry-9780190498467?cc=us&lang=en&|url-status=live}}</ref> that Obama was planning to fake a terrorist attack such as the [[Oklahoma City bombing]] to boost the administration's popularity,<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/01/22/glenn-beck-and-other-too-little-too-late-apologies|title=Glenn Beck and Other 'Too Little, Too Late' Apologies|last=Dickson|first=Caitlin|date=2014-01-23|access-date=2020-01-11}}</ref> and that Obama was George Soros's "puppet".<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2010/11/10/glenn-becks-anti-semitic-attack-on-george-soros|title=Glenn Beck's Anti-Semitic Attack on George Soros|last=Goldberg|first=Michelle|date=2010-11-10|access-date=2020-01-14}}</ref> He often likened Obama and his administration to Adolf Hitler and the Third Reich.<ref name=":2"/> 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."<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2009/jul/29/glenn-beck/glenn-beck-claims-science-czar-john-holdren-propos/|title=Glenn Beck claims science czar John Holdren proposed forced abortions and putting sterilants in the drinking water to control population|website=@politifact|access-date=2020-01-14|archive-date=October 12, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191012202504/https://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2009/jul/29/glenn-beck/glenn-beck-claims-science-czar-john-holdren-propos/|url-status=live}}</ref>

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."<ref name="ObamaCBS">{{cite news|url=http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/07/29/politics/main5195604.shtml|title=Fox's Glenn Beck: President Obama is a racist|last=Bauder|first=David|date=July 28, 2009|work=[[CBS News]]|access-date=July 29, 2009|agency=[[Associated Press]]|archive-date=August 29, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090829003707/http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/07/29/politics/main5195604.shtml|url-status=dead}}</ref> These remarks drew criticism and resulted in a boycott in which at least 57 advertisers requested that their ads be [[Glenn Beck (TV program)#Boycotts|removed from his programming]].<ref name="Ariens">{{cite news|url=http://www.mediabistro.com/tvnewser/fnc/glenn_becks_racist_comment_sends_advertisers_elsewhere_123710.asp|title=Glenn Beck's 'Racist' Comment Sends Advertisers Elsewhere|last=Ariens|first=Chris|date=July 28, 2009|work=TVNewser|access-date=August 12, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090810010229/http://www.mediabistro.com/tvnewser/fnc/glenn_becks_racist_comment_sends_advertisers_elsewhere_123710.asp|archive-date=August 10, 2009}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/peopleNews/idUSTRE57C07920090813|title=Fox News' "Glenn Beck" loses advertisers|last=Hein|first=Kenneth|date=July 12, 2009|work=[[Reuters]]|access-date=July 13, 2009|archive-date=October 19, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211019111038/https://www.reuters.com/article/peopleNews/idUSTRE57C07920090813|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/money/2009/09/03/2009-09-03_advertisers_.html|title=Advertisers continue to abandon Glenn Beck after pundit had called President Obama a 'racist'|last=Siemaszko|first=Corky|date=September 3, 2009|work=[[New York Daily News]]|access-date=September 3, 2009|location=New York|archive-date=May 25, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100525221212/http://www.nydailynews.com/money/2009/09/03/2009-09-03_advertisers_.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/2009/oct/04/waitrose-fox-news-barack-obama|title=Waitrose dumps Fox News in protest over remarks about Barack Obama|last=Jones|first=Sam|date=October 4, 2009|work=[[The Guardian]]|access-date=October 6, 2009|location=London|archive-date=April 11, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210411093739/https://www.theguardian.com/media/2009/oct/04/waitrose-fox-news-barack-obama|url-status=live}}</ref> He later apologized for the remarks, telling [[Fox News Sunday]] anchor [[Chris Wallace (journalist)|Chris Wallace]] that he has a "big fat mouth" and miscast as racism what is actually, as he theorizes, Obama's belief in [[black theology]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.politico.com/blogs/onmedia/0810/Beck_I_have_a_big_fat_mouth.html|title=Beck: "I have a big fat mouth"|last=Hagey|first=Keach|date=August 29, 2010|publisher=[[Politico]]|access-date=November 1, 2012|archive-date=February 26, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210226222656/https://www.politico.com/blogs/onmedia/0810/Beck_I_have_a_big_fat_mouth.html|url-status=live}}</ref> 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]] decided to remove the auction and cancel all bids.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.usnews.com/news/blogs/washington-whispers/2012/11/28/ebay-removes-glenn-becks-listing-of-obama-toy-in-urine-because-it-violated-their-terms-of-service|title=Ebay Removes Glenn Beck's Listing Of Obama Toy In Urine Because It Violated Their Terms Of Service|last=Flock|first=Elizabeth|date=November 28, 2012|work=[[U.S. News & World Report]]|access-date=March 28, 2018|publisher=U.S. News & World Report, L.P.|archive-date=September 22, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180922121544/https://www.usnews.com/news/blogs/washington-whispers/2012/11/28/ebay-removes-glenn-becks-listing-of-obama-toy-in-urine-because-it-violated-their-terms-of-service|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="abadsantos">{{cite news|url=http://www.thewire.com/politics/2012/11/glenn-beck-has-re-opened-bidding-obama-doll-drenched-his-fake-urine/59407/|title=Glenn Beck Has Re-opened Bidding for an Obama Doll Drenched in His Fake Urine|last=Abad-Santos|first=Alexander|date=November 28, 2012|work=The Wire|access-date=November 21, 2014|publisher=[[The Atlantic]]|archive-date=November 29, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141129141502/http://www.thewire.com/politics/2012/11/glenn-beck-has-re-opened-bidding-obama-doll-drenched-his-fake-urine/59407/}}</ref>

In a 2016 interview with ''[[The New Yorker]]'', 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]]. He said, "There are things unique to the African-American experience that I cannot relate to. I had to listen to them."<ref name=:3/>

==== Van Jones ====
In July 2009, Beck began to focus many episodes on his TV and radio shows on [[Van Jones]], special advisor for [[Green Jobs]] at Obama's White House [[Council on Environmental Quality]]. 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.<ref name="JonesPost">{{cite news|url=http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2009/sep/08/glenn-beck/glenn-beck-says-van-jones-avowed-communist/|title=Glenn Beck says Van Jones is an avowed communist|work=PolitiFact.com|access-date=April 14, 2012|archive-date=April 11, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120411232240/http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2009/sep/08/glenn-beck/glenn-beck-says-van-jones-avowed-communist/|url-status=live}}</ref>

Beck also criticized Jones for his involvement in [[Standing Together to Organize a Revolutionary Movement|STORM]], a Bay Area radical group with Marxist roots,<ref name="The Washington Post 2009-09-06">{{cite news|url=http://voices.washingtonpost.com/44/2009/09/06/van_jones_resigns.html|title=White House Adviser Van Jones Resigns Amid Controversy Over Past Activism|last1=Wilson|first1=Scott|date=September 6, 2009|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|access-date=April 14, 2012|publisher=Nash Holdings LLC|last2=Franke-Ruta|first2=Garance|location=Washington DC|archive-date=March 31, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190331212137/http://voices.washingtonpost.com/44/2009/09/06/van_jones_resigns.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> and his support for [[death row]] inmate [[Mumia Abu-Jamal]], who had been convicted of killing a police officer. Beck spotlighted a video of Jones calling [[U.S. Republican Party|Republicans]] "assholes", and a petition Jones signed suggesting that [[George W. Bush]] knowingly let the [[September 11 attacks]] happen. ''Time'' magazine credited Beck with leading conservatives' attack on Jones.<ref name="Time09"/>

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.<ref name="The New York Times 2009-09-06">{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/07/us/politics/07vanjones.html?_r=1|title=White House Official Resigns After G.O.P. Criticism|last=Brodey|first=John|date=September 6, 2009|work=[[The New York Times]]|access-date=September 22, 2009|location=New York City|archive-date=August 20, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180820113532/https://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/07/us/politics/07vanjones.html?_r=1|url-status=live}}</ref> Jones called his opponents' attacks as a "vicious smear campaign" and an effort to use "lies and distortions to distract and divide".<ref name="The Washington Post 2009-09-06"/>

==== 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.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2012/08/cass-sunstein-glenn-becks-favorite-white-house-czar-returns-harvard/325121/|title=Cass Sunstein, Glenn Beck's Favorite White House Czar, Returns to Harvard|last=Hudson|first=John|date=2012-08-03|website=[[The Atlantic]]|access-date=2020-01-14|archive-date=January 14, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200114061128/https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2012/08/cass-sunstein-glenn-becks-favorite-white-house-czar-returns-harvard/325121/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.chronicle.com/article/Cass-Sunstein-Is-Confirmed-to/48359|title=Cass Sunstein Is Confirmed to Top Regulatory Post Despite Attacks on His Writings|last=Schmidt|first=Peter|date=2009-09-10|work=The Chronicle of Higher Education|access-date=2020-01-14|issn=0009-5982|archive-date=January 14, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200114061121/https://www.chronicle.com/article/Cass-Sunstein-Is-Confirmed-to/48359|url-status=live}}</ref> Beck led opposition against Sunstein's nomination to the position,<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.politico.com/news/stories/0909/27019.html|title=Sunstein confirmed in 57-40 vote|last=Isenstadt|first=Alex|website=[[Politico]]|access-date=2020-01-14|archive-date=March 10, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130310134200/http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0909/27019.html|url-status=live}}</ref> calling Sunstein "the most dangerous man in America"<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2014/05/our-nudge-in-chief/359804/|title=Our Nudge in Chief|last=Cole|first=David|date=2014-04-16|website=[[The Atlantic]]|access-date=2020-01-14|archive-date=January 14, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200114061105/https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2014/05/our-nudge-in-chief/359804/|url-status=live}}</ref> and suggesting that Sunstein was plotting ways to "ban" conspiracy theorizing.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.newyorker.com/culture/persons-of-interest/how-a-liberal-scholar-of-conspiracy-theories-became-the-subject-of-a-right-wing-conspiracy-theory|title=How a Liberal Scholar of Conspiracy Theories Became the Subject of a Right-Wing Conspiracy Theory|last=Marantz|first=Andrew|magazine=The New Yorker|date=2017-12-27|access-date=2020-01-14|issn=0028-792X|archive-date=April 22, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200422135849/https://www.newyorker.com/culture/persons-of-interest/how-a-liberal-scholar-of-conspiracy-theories-became-the-subject-of-a-right-wing-conspiracy-theory|url-status=live}}</ref>

=== ACORN ===
In 2009, Beck and other conservative commentators were critical of [[Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now]] (ACORN) making multiple claims including voter registration fraud in the [[2008 United States presidential election|2008 presidential election]].<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.cbsnews.com/blogs/2009/09/16/politics/politicalhotsheet/entry5315657.shtml|title=ACORN Sting Lands Housing Group in Conservative Crosshairs|last=Montopoli|first=Brian|date=September 16, 2009|work=Political Hotsheet|access-date=October 2, 2009|publisher=[[CBS News]]|archive-date=September 22, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090922203448/http://www.cbsnews.com/blogs/2009/09/16/politics/politicalhotsheet/entry5315657.shtml|url-status=live}}</ref> In September 2009, he broadcast [[ACORN 2009 undercover videos controversy|a series of alleged undercover videos]] by conservative activists [[James O'Keefe]] 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.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.foxnews.com/story/acorn-fires-more-officials-for-helping-pimp-prostitute-in-washington-office|title=ACORN Fires More Officials for Helping 'Pimp,' 'Prostitute' in Washington Office|date=September 11, 2009|work=FoxNews.com|access-date=April 14, 2012|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090913020053/http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,549241,00.html#ixzz1s4kt8vBM|archive-date=September 13, 2009}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/news/ny_crime/2010/03/01/2010-03-01_bklyn_acorn_cleared_over_giving_illegal_advice_on_how_to_hide_money_from_prostit.html|title=B'klyn ACORN cleared over giving illegal advice on how to hide money from prostitution|last=Shifrel|first=Scott|date=March 1, 2010|work=[[Daily News (New York)|Daily News]]|access-date=March 24, 2010|location=New York|archive-date=March 5, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100305232108/http://www.nydailynews.com/news/ny_crime/2010/03/01/2010-03-01_bklyn_acorn_cleared_over_giving_illegal_advice_on_how_to_hide_money_from_prostit.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Following the videos' release, the [[U.S. Census Bureau]] severed ties with the group while the U.S. House and Senate voted to cut all of its federal funding.<ref name="Time09"/>

On December 7, 2009, the former [[Massachusetts Attorney General]], 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.<ref>[http://www.proskauer.com/files/uploads/report2.pdf An Independent Governance Assessment of ACORN] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100908055244/http://www.proskauer.com/files/uploads/report2.pdf|date=September 8, 2010}} December 7, 2009</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2009/12/acorn_workers_cleared_of_illeg.html|title=ACORN Workers Cleared Of Illegality By Outside Probe|last=James|first=Frank|date=December 7, 2009|publisher=Npr.org|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110511205306/http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2009/12/acorn_workers_cleared_of_illeg.html|archive-date=May 11, 2011|access-date=May 12, 2011}}</ref><ref>[http://correspondents.theatlantic.com/wendy_kaminer/2009/12/acorn_and_the_ethics_of_leadership.php ACORN and the Ethics of Leadership] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210201065320/https://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2009/12/acorn-and-the-ethics-of-leadership/31474/ |date=February 1, 2021 }}, ''Atlantic Monthly'', December 8, 2009</ref><ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20091213181344/http://www.nonprofitquarterly.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1654%3Anpq-on-acorn-investigation-results&catid=58%3Anpq-in-the-news&Itemid=54 ACORN Investigation Results], ''The Nonprofit Quarterly''</ref> On March 1, 2010, the [[District Attorney]]'s office for Brooklyn determined that the videos were "heavily edited"<ref>[http://nymag.com/daily/intel/2010/03/damaging_brooklyn_acorn_sting.html Damaging Brooklyn ACORN Sting Video Ruled 'Heavily Edited,' No Charges to Be Filed] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100307173946/http://nymag.com/daily/intel/2010/03/damaging_brooklyn_acorn_sting.html |date=March 7, 2010 }} ''New York Magazine''; March 2, 2010</ref> and concluded that there was no criminal wrongdoing by the ACORN staff in the videos from the Brooklyn ACORN office.<ref name="NYT2010Newman">{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/02/nyregion/02acorn.html|title=Advice to Fake Pimp Was No Crime, Prosecutor Says|last=Newman|first=Andrew|date=March 1, 2010|work=[[The New York Times]]|access-date=March 7, 2010|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100325060338/http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/02/nyregion/02acorn.html|archive-date=March 25, 2010}}</ref><ref name="Salon2010Madden">{{cite web|url=http://www.salon.com/news/politics/war_room/2010/03/01/acorn_cleared|title=Brooklyn prosecutors clear local ACORN office|last=Madde|first=Mike|date=March 1, 2010|work=[[Salon.com]]|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100307082014/http://www.salon.com/news/politics/war_room/2010/03/01/acorn_cleared|archive-date=March 7, 2010|access-date=March 7, 2010}}</ref> On April 1, 2010, an investigation by the [[California Attorney General]] found the videos from Los Angeles, San Diego and San Bernardino to be "heavily edited",<ref name="CA AG Report">{{cite web|url=http://ag.ca.gov/cms_attachments/press/pdfs/n1888_acorn_report.pdf|title=Report of the Attorney General on the activities of ACORN|date=April 1, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110612181707/http://ag.ca.gov/cms_attachments/press/pdfs/n1888_acorn_report.pdf|archive-date=June 12, 2011|access-date=August 17, 2012}}</ref> and the investigation did not find evidence of criminal conduct on the part of ACORN employees.<ref name="CA AG Report"/><ref name="CA AG Release">{{cite news|url=http://ag.ca.gov/newsalerts/release.php?id=1888&|title=Brown Releases Report Detailing a Litany of Problems with ACORN, But No Criminality|date=April 1, 2010|work=California Office of Attorney General|access-date=April 3, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100403065738/http://ag.ca.gov/newsalerts/release.php?id=1888|archive-date=April 3, 2010}}</ref> 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.<ref>[https://huffingtonpost.com/john-atlas/acorn-vindicated-of-wrong_b_612265.html?page=3&show_comment_id=50563828 ACORN Vindicated of Wrongdoing by the Congressional Watchdog Office] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181218013134/https://www.huffingtonpost.com/john-atlas/acorn-vindicated-of-wrong_b_612265.html?page=3&show_comment_id=50563828 |date=December 18, 2018 }} Huffington Post; June 15, 2010; John Atlas</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.cnn.com/2010/POLITICS/06/14/congress.acorn/index.html|title=Preliminary report clears ACORN on funds|date=June 15, 2010|work=[[CNN]]|access-date=August 16, 2012|archive-date=August 29, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100829184806/http://www.cnn.com/2010/POLITICS/06/14/congress.acorn/index.html|url-status=live}}</ref> In March 2010, ACORN announced it would be closing its offices and disbanding due to loss of funding from government and private donors.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.baltimoresun.com/2010/03/23/acorn-disbanding-because-of-money-woes-scandal/|title=ACORN disbanding because of money woes, scandal|agency=[[Associated Press]]|access-date=August 7, 2015|archive-date=October 7, 2015|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151007125456/http://articles.baltimoresun.com/2010-03-23/news/bal-te.briefs232mar23_1_acorn-california-acorn-new-york-community-activist-group-acorn}}</ref>

According to a 2010 study in the journal ''Perspectives on Politics'', Beck played a prominent role in media attacks on ACORN.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Dreier|first1=Peter|last2=Martin|first2=Christopher R.|date=2010|title=How ACORN Was Framed: Political Controversy and Media Agenda Setting|journal=Perspectives on Politics|volume=8|issue=3|pages=761–792|doi=10.1017/S1537592710002069|s2cid=144560540|issn=1541-0986}}</ref>

=== Satire website ===
In 2009, lawyers for Beck brought a case (''[[Beck v. Eiland-Hall]]'') against the owner of a [[satire|satirical]] website named ''GlennBeckRapedAndMurderedAYoungGirlIn1990.com'' with the [[World Intellectual Property Organization]] (WIPO). The claim that the domain name of the website is itself [[defamatory]] was described as a first in [[cyberlaw]].<ref name="The First Post 2009-09-11">{{cite news|url=http://www.thefirstpost.co.uk/53410,news,fox-news-star-glenn-beck-fights-rape-and-murder-website|title=Fox's Glenn Beck fights 'rape and murder' website|last=Bremer|first=Jack|date=September 11, 2009|work=[[The First Post]]|access-date=October 4, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090914131629/http://www.thefirstpost.co.uk/53410%2Cnews%2Cfox-news-star-glenn-beck-fights-rape-and-murder-website|archive-date=September 14, 2009|publisher=[[Dennis Publishing]]}}</ref> Beck's lawyers argued that the site infringed on his trademarked name and that the [[domain name]] should be turned over to Beck.<ref>Anderson, Nate, [https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2009/09/can-a-mere-domain-name-be-defamation-glenn-beck-says-yes.ars "Can a mere domain name be defamation? Glenn Beck says yes"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091002022212/http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2009/09/can-a-mere-domain-name-be-defamation-glenn-beck-says-yes.ars |date=October 2, 2009 }}, ''Ars Technica'', 2009</ref> The WIPO ruled against Beck, but Eiland-Hall voluntarily transferred the domain to Beck anyway, saying that the [[First Amendment to the United States Constitution|First Amendment]] had been upheld and that he no longer had a use for the domain name.<ref name="Anderson2">Anderson, Nate, [https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2009/11/glenn-beck-loses-domain-dispute-still-ends-up-with-domain.ars "Glenn Beck loses domain dispute, still ends up with domain"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091112083355/http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2009/11/glenn-beck-loses-domain-dispute-still-ends-up-with-domain.ars |date=November 12, 2009 }}, ''Ars Technica'', 2009</ref>

=== Jewish Funds for Justice ===
In January 2011, in protest against what they saw as inappropriate references to [[the Holocaust]] and to Nazis by Beck (and by [[Roger Ailes]] of Fox News), four hundred rabbis signed an open letter published as a paid advertisement in ''[[The Wall Street Journal]]''. The ad was paid for by [[Jewish Funds for Justice]] (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]]''".<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20120320115546/http://www.jewishjustice.org/puppet-master "The Puppet Master"]. Jewish Funds for Justice.</ref> The letter states that Beck and Fox had "diminish[ed] the 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]] the letter was from a "George Soros-backed leftwing political organization".<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/2011/jan/27/rabbis-murdoch-fox-glenn-beck-holocaust|title=Rabbis warn Rupert Murdoch: Fox News and Glenn Beck 'using' Holocaust|last=Pilkington|first=Ed|date=January 27, 2011|work=[[The Guardian]]|location=London}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://uk.reuters.com/article/idUKN2620137220110127|title=UPDATE 1-Rabbis protest Fox host's use of Holocaust imagery|last=Stern|first=Andrew|date=January 27, 2011|work=[[Reuters]]|access-date=January 28, 2011|archive-date=May 26, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200526192234/https://uk.reuters.com/article/media-fox-rabbis/update-1-rabbis-protest-fox-hosts-use-of-holocaust-imagery-idUKN2620137220110127|url-status=dead}}</ref>

=== George Soros conspiracy theories ===
Beck is a prominent proponent of conspiracy theories about George Soros, a Jewish philanthropist.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=https://www.channel4.com/news/factcheck/why-the-conspiracy-theories-about-george-soros-dont-stack-up|title=Why the conspiracy theories about George Soros don't stack up|last=Lee|first=Georgina|website=Channel 4 News|date=February 15, 2018|access-date=October 12, 2019|archive-date=January 11, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210111151312/https://www.channel4.com/news/factcheck/why-the-conspiracy-theories-about-george-soros-dont-stack-up|url-status=live}}</ref> Beck falsely claimed that Soros as a boy helped to "send the Jews to the death camps."<ref name=":0"/> Beck frequently referred to Soros as a puppet-master and repeated the unsubstantiated conspiracy theory that Soros caused the [[1997 Asian financial crisis]].<ref name=":0"/> 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."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2010/11/was-glenn-beck-s-george-soros-takedown-anti-semitic/343439/|title=Was Glenn Beck's George Soros Takedown Anti-Semitic?|last=Eichler|first=Alex|website=[[The Atlantic]]|date=November 12, 2010|access-date=November 26, 2018|archive-date=April 17, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210417064334/https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2010/11/was-glenn-beck-s-george-soros-takedown-anti-semitic/343439/|url-status=live}}</ref>

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".<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/2011/02/24/2011-02-24_glenn_beck_apologizes_for_comparing_reform_judaism_to_radical_islam_says_it_was_.html|title=Glenn Beck apologizes for comparing Reform Judaism to radical Islam; says it was a bad analogy|last=Mandell|first=Nina|date=February 24, 2011|work=[[Daily News (New York)|Daily News]]|access-date=February 26, 2011|location=New York|archive-date=February 28, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110228181829/http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/2011/02/24/2011-02-24_glenn_beck_apologizes_for_comparing_reform_judaism_to_radical_islam_says_it_was_.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mediaite.com/tv/glenn-beck-apologizes-for-reform-judaism-comments/|title=Glenn Beck Apologizes For Reform Judaism Comments|last=Bershad|first=Jon|date=February 24, 2011|work=[[Mediaite]]|access-date=February 26, 2011|archive-date=February 25, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110225124850/http://www.mediaite.com/tv/glenn-beck-apologizes-for-reform-judaism-comments/|url-status=live}}</ref>

In 2016, Beck, a friend of actor and director [[Mel Gibson]] claimed he and Gibson shared a conversation in which Gibson claimed Jewish people had stolen a copy of ''[[The Passion of the Christ]]'' before its official theatrical release, and that Jewish people were assaulting him in the streets.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/09/07/glenn-beck-mel-gibson-told-me-jewish-people-stole-his-christ-movie|title=Glenn Beck: Mel Gibson Told Me 'Jewish People' 'Stole' His Christ Movie|last=Grove|first=Lloyd|newspaper=[[The Daily Beast]]|date=September 8, 2016|via=www.thedailybeast.com|access-date=November 26, 2018}}</ref>

=== 2011 Norway attacks ===
Beck condemned the [[2011 Norway attacks]],<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.cnn.com/2011/POLITICS/07/25/beck.norway/index.html|title=Beck: Norway slaughter camp smacks of 'Hitler Youth'|author=Wire Staff|date=July 25, 2011|access-date=July 27, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110728065059/http://articles.cnn.com/2011-07-25/politics/beck.norway_1_glenn-beck-summer-camp-norway?_s=PM%3APOLITICS|archive-date=July 28, 2011|url-status=live|publisher=[[CNN]]}}</ref> but was condemned for his comparison of murdered and surviving members of the Norwegian [[Workers' Youth League (Norway)|Workers' Youth League]] to the [[Hitler Youth]]. 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."<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://newsfeed.time.com/2011/07/26/glenn-beck-site-of-norway-massacre-sounds-like-the-hitler-youth/|title=Glenn Beck: Site of Norway Massacre 'Sounds like the Hitler Youth'|last=Levy|first=Glen|date=July 26, 2011|magazine=Time|access-date=July 26, 2011|archive-date=May 25, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190525180316/http://newsfeed.time.com/2011/07/26/glenn-beck-site-of-norway-massacre-sounds-like-the-hitler-youth/|url-status=live}}</ref> The statement was ill-received in Norway, prompting political commentator and [[Labour Party (Norway)|Labour party]] member [[Frank Aarebrot]] to label Beck as a "vulgar propagandist", a "swine" and a "fascist",<ref name="Dag01">{{cite web|url=http://www.dagbladet.no/2011/07/25/nyheter/utenriks/usa/innenriks/politikk/17453053/|title=Opprørt over Hitler-sammenlikning – nyheter (Upset by Hitler comparison (in Norwegian))|last=Kvaale|first=Vegard Kristiansen|date=July 25, 2011|publisher=Dagbladet.no|access-date=December 10, 2011|archive-date=April 27, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170427040937/http://www.dagbladet.no/2011/07/25/nyheter/utenriks/usa/innenriks/politikk/17453053/|url-status=live}}</ref> and Torbjørn Eriksen, former press secretary to Norway's prime minister [[Jens Stoltenberg]], to describe Beck's comment as "a new low", adding that "Glenn Beck's comments are ignorant, incorrect and extremely hurtful".<ref name="telegraph25jul">{{Cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/norway/8660986/Norway-shooting-Glenn-Beck-compares-dead-teenagers-to-Hitler-youth.html|title=Glenn Beck Compares Dead Teenagers to Hitler Youth|last=Swaine|first=Jon|date=July 25, 2011|work=[[The Daily Telegraph]]|access-date=July 25, 2011|location=London|archive-date=July 25, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110725222441/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/norway/8660986/Norway-shooting-Glenn-Beck-compares-dead-teenagers-to-Hitler-youth.html|url-status=live}}</ref> 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.<ref name="Dag01"/><ref name=telegraph25jul/><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/2011/jul/26/glenn-beck-norwegian-dead-hitler|title=Glenn Beck likens Norwegian dead to Hitler youth|last=Quinn|first=Ben|date=July 26, 2011|work=[[The Guardian]]|location=London}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.jewishjournal.com/glenn_beck/article/beck_likens_norway_victims_to_hitler_youth_20110725|title=Beck likens Norway victims to Hitler Youth (AUDIO&#93; &#124; Norway)|author=JTA|access-date=December 10, 2011|publisher=Jewish Journal}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://content.usatoday.com/communities/ondeadline/post/2011/07/glenn-beck-compares-norwegian-victims-to-hitler-youth/1|title=Glenn Beck compares Norwegian victims to 'Hitler Youth'|last=Winter|first=Michael|date=July 25, 2011|work=[[USA Today]]|access-date=July 26, 2011|archive-date=October 11, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121011105803/http://content.usatoday.com/communities/ondeadline/post/2011/07/glenn-beck-compares-norwegian-victims-to-hitler-youth/1|url-status=live}}</ref>

=== Trump comments and 2016 SIRIUS XM Suspension ===
Beck opposed [[Donald Trump]] during his [[Donald Trump presidential campaign, 2016|2016 campaign for president]], comparing him to [[Adolf Hitler]] and describing him as "an immoral man who is absent decency or dignity."<ref name=":1">{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/05/us/politics/never-trumper-republicans.html|title=The 'Never Trump' Coalition That Decided Eh, Never Mind, He's Fine|last=Peters|first=Jeremy W.|date=October 5, 2019|work=[[The New York Times]]|access-date=October 13, 2019|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=October 12, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191012193057/https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/05/us/politics/never-trumper-republicans.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://time.com/4248841/glenn-beck-donald-trump-hitler/|title=Glenn Beck Compares Donald Trump to Hitler|last=Chan|first=Marissa|date=March 6, 2016|magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]]|access-date=May 31, 2016|archive-date=June 2, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160602115844/http://time.com/4248841/glenn-beck-donald-trump-hitler/|url-status=live}}</ref>

[[Sirius XM Holdings|Sirius XM]] suspended Beck on May 31, 2016, for remarks made during an interview a week earlier. During an interview with author [[Brad Thor]] 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 [assassinate him] if, if, he oversteps his mandate as president?"<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/siriusxm-suspends-glenn-beck-after-guests-trump-comments|title=SiriusXM suspends Glenn Beck after guest's Trump comments|date=May 31, 2016|publisher=[[Fox News]]|access-date=May 31, 2016|archive-date=May 31, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160531235012/http://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/2016/05/31/siriusxm-suspends-glenn-beck-after-guests-trump-comments.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Thor and the show's general manager both denied that the comments were a call for his [[assassination]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2016/06/01/siriusxm-suspends-glenn-beck-for-comments-that-could-be-construed-as-advocating-harm-against-trump/|title=SiriusXM suspends Glenn Beck for comments that could be 'construed' as 'advocating harm' against Trump|date=June 1, 2016|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|access-date=June 10, 2016|archive-date=June 2, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160602195447/https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2016/06/01/siriusxm-suspends-glenn-beck-for-comments-that-could-be-construed-as-advocating-harm-against-trump/|url-status=live}}</ref> Beck's radio show was moved from the SIRIUS XM Patriot channel to the ''Triumph'' channel soon after.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.siriusxm.com/siriusxm132|title=Triumph – Dave Ramsey and More|access-date=November 26, 2018|archive-date=July 7, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180707011127/https://www.siriusxm.com/siriusxm132|url-status=live}}</ref>

Beck's opposition to Trump did not sit well with many Trump supporters and hurt his businesses and viewership.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Gallagher|first=Danny|date=2018-07-11|title=Glenn Beck Might Be Losing More Than His Media Empire After Tense CNN Interview|url=https://www.dallasobserver.com/news/glenn-beck-his-media-company-tanking-becomes-a-trump-fan-10845643|access-date=2021-05-08|website=[[Dallas Observer]]|archive-date=November 1, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201101080042/https://www.dallasobserver.com/news/glenn-beck-his-media-company-tanking-becomes-a-trump-fan-10845643|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|last=Grove|first=Lloyd|date=2018-05-19|title=Glenn Beck Changes Sides Again. Does Anyone Believe Him?|work=[[The Daily Beast]]|url=https://www.thedailybeast.com/glenn-beck-changes-sides-again-does-anyone-believe-him|access-date=2021-05-08|archive-date=November 9, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201109041151/https://www.thedailybeast.com/glenn-beck-changes-sides-again-does-anyone-believe-him|url-status=live}}</ref> On May 18, 2018, Beck stated on his radio program that he intended to vote for Trump in the [[2020 United States presidential election|2020 presidential election]], calling Trump's record "pretty damn amazing".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2018/may/19/glenn-beck-dons-maga-hat-ready-for-2020-due-to-med/|title=Glenn Beck dons MAGA hat, ready for 2020 due to media's MS-13 'animal' coverage|last=Ernst|first=Douglas|date=May 19, 2018|work=[[The Washington Times]]|access-date=May 19, 2018|archive-date=May 19, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180519184157/https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2018/may/19/glenn-beck-dons-maga-hat-ready-for-2020-due-to-med/|url-status=live}}</ref> Beck said Trump's defeat in the 2020 election would be "the end of the country as we know it."<ref name=":1"/>

== Influences ==
=== Political and historical ===
{{quote box
| quote = The old American mind-set that Richard Hofstadter famously called ''the paranoid style''—the sense that Masons or the railroads or the Pope or the guys in black helicopters are in league to destroy the country—is aflame again, fanned from both right and left ... No one has a better feeling for this mood, and no one exploits it as well, as Beck. He is the hottest thing in the political-rant racket, left or right.
| source = –[[David Von Drehle]], ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'', 2009<ref name="Time09"/>
| width = 34%
| align = right
}}

An author with ideological influence on Beck is [[W. Cleon Skousen]] (1913–2006), a prolific [[Conservatism in the United States|conservative]] political writer, American [[Constitutionalism|constitutionalist]] and faith based political theorist.<ref name="RDBrooks">by Brooks, Joanna, [https://web.archive.org/web/20100706165607/http://www.religiondispatches.org/archive/politics/1885/ "How Mormonism Built Glenn Beck"], ''[[Religion Dispatches]]'', October 7, 2009</ref><ref>{{cite news|work=[[Deseret News]]|url = http://www.deseretnews.com/article/705349270/BYU-professors-Glenn-Beck-doesnt-speak-for-all-Mormons.html|title = BYU professors: Glenn Beck doesn't speak for all Mormons|first = Sara|last = Israelsen-Hartley|date = December 5, 2009|access-date = August 31, 2010|archive-date = July 26, 2018|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20180726065416/https://www.deseretnews.com/article/705349270/BYU-professors-Glenn-Beck-doesnt-speak-for-all-Mormons.html|url-status = dead}}</ref> As an [[Anti-communism|anti-communist]] supporter of the John Birch Society,<ref>[[W. Cleon Skousen|Skousen, W. Cleon]] (1963), [http://www.ourrepubliconline.com/OurRepublic/Article/27 ''The Communist Attack on the John Birch Society''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121031122826/http://www.ourrepubliconline.com/OurRepublic/Article/27 |date=October 31, 2012 }}</ref> and a limited-government activist,<ref name="SalonSkousen">Zaitchik, Alexander, (September 16, 2009), [https://web.archive.org/web/20090922170353/http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2009/09/16/beck_skousen/print.html "Meet the Man who Changed Glenn Beck's Life"], ''[[Salon Magazine]]''</ref> Skousen, who was Mormon, wrote on a wide range of subjects: the [[Six-Day War]], [[Eschatology|Mormon eschatology]], [[New World Order (conspiracy theory)|New World Order conspiracies]], even [[parenting]].<ref name="SalonSkousen"/> Skousen believed that American political, social, and economic elites were working with [[Communism|communists]] to foist a [[world government]] on the United States.<ref name="WeekSt"/> Beck praised Skousen's "words of wisdom" as "divinely inspired", referencing Skousen's ''[[The Naked Communist]]''<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.glennbeck.com/content/articles/article/196/1513/|title=Bill Bennett Interview|newspaper=Glenn Beck |date=November 21, 2007|access-date=October 10, 2009|archive-date=March 14, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210314181103/http://www.glennbeck.com/content/articles/article/196/1513/}}</ref> and especially ''[[The 5,000 Year Leap]]'' (originally published in 1981),<ref name="SalonSkousen"/> which Beck said in 2007 had "changed his life".<ref name="SalonSkousen"/> According to Skousen's nephew, [[Mark Skousen]], ''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".<ref>[[Mark Skousen|Skousen, Mark]] (March 19, 2009), [http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=31116 "Glenn Beck Re-Energizes the Conservative Movement"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120329133846/http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=31116 |date=March 29, 2012 }}, ''[[Human Events]]''</ref> The book is recommended by Beck as "required reading" to understand the current American political landscape and become a "September twelfth person".<ref name="SalonSkousen"/> 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.com|Amazon]] for several months.<ref name="SalonSkousen"/> In 2010, [[Matthew Continetti]] of the conservative ''[[Weekly Standard]]'' criticized Beck's conspiratorial bent, terming him "a Skousenite".<ref name="WeekSt"/> Additionally, [[Alexander Zaitchik]], 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",<ref>Zaitchik, Alexander, (2010), ''[[Common Nonsense: Glenn Beck and the Triumph of Ignorance]]'', John Wiley and Sons, {{ISBN|0-470-55739-7}}, Chapter 12: "The Ghost of Cleon Skousen", pp. 210–234, [https://books.google.com/books?id=LIDYmd2ibVQC&pg=PA210 Books Preview]</ref> 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.<ref>Zaitchik, Alexander (July 5, 2010), [https://huffingtonpost.com/alexander-zaitchik/past-is-prologue-glenn-be_b_634826.html?view=print "Past is Prologue: Glenn Beck's 'Rally for America' Redux"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161022065457/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/alexander-zaitchik/past-is-prologue-glenn-be_b_634826.html?view=print |date=October 22, 2016 }}, ''[[The Huffington Post]]''</ref>

In his discussion of Beck and Skousen, Continetti said that one of Skousen's works "draws on [[Carroll Quigley]]'s ''[[Tragedy and Hope]]'' (1966), which argues that the history of the 20th century is the product of [[Secret society|secret societies]] in conflict".<ref name="WeekSt"/> 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."<ref name="WeekSt"/>

Beck's views on early-20th-century progressivism are greatly influenced by [[Ronald J. Pestritto]], who teaches at [[Hillsdale College]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://kirbycenter.hillsdale.edu/about/staff/ronaldjpestritto|title=Ronald J. Pestritto – Kirby Center|access-date=January 21, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402152704/http://kirbycenter.hillsdale.edu/about/staff/ronaldjpestritto|archive-date=April 2, 2015}}</ref> The portal page GlennBeck.com for "American Progressivism"<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.glennbeck.com/content/articles/article/198/23936/|title=American Progressivism|date=April 16, 2009|access-date=January 21, 2015|archive-date=January 21, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150121042736/http://www.glennbeck.com/content/articles/article/198/23936/|url-status=live}}</ref> uses Pestritto's teachings and links directly to one of his books. Pestritto wrote an article for ''[[The Wall Street Journal]]'' detailing "Glenn Beck, Progressives and Me".<ref>Ronald J. Pestritto (September 15, 2010), [https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052748704554104575435942829722602 "Glenn Beck, Progressives and Me"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170308014522/https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052748704554104575435942829722602 |date=March 8, 2017 }}, ''[[The Wall Street Journal]]''</ref>  ''The New York Times'' observed that Pestritto was a regular guest on Beck's [[Fox News]] show, .<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2010/10/10/hating-woodrow-wilson |title=Hating Woodrow Wilson |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |date=October 10, 2010 |access-date=February 21, 2017 |archive-date=February 19, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170219125706/http://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2010/10/10/hating-woodrow-wilson |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.salon.com/2010/04/06/glenn_beck_s_historians/ |title=Glenn Beck's partisan historians |work=[[Salon.com|Salon]] |date=April 5, 2010 |access-date=January 21, 2015 |archive-date=January 21, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150121040030/http://www.salon.com/2010/04/06/glenn_beck_s_historians/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.mlive.com/news/jackson/index.ssf/2010/10/fox_news_host_puts_hillsdale_c.html |title=Fox News host Glenn Beck puts Hillsdale College professor Ronald J. Pestritto on the map |work=[[Salon.com|Salon]] |date=October 30, 2010 |access-date=January 21, 2015 |archive-date=January 21, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150121040517/http://www.mlive.com/news/jackson/index.ssf/2010/10/fox_news_host_puts_hillsdale_c.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

[[Princeton University]] [[historian]] [[Sean Wilentz]] says that alongside Skousen, John Birch Society founder [[Robert W. Welch, Jr.]], is a key ideological foundation of Beck's worldview.<ref name="NewYorker">[[Sean Wilentz|Wilentz, Sean]] (October 18, 2010), [http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2010/10/18/101018fa_fact_wilentz?printable=true "Confounding Fathers: The Tea Party's Cold War Roots"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140108194819/http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2010/10/18/101018fa_fact_wilentz?printable=true |date=January 8, 2014 }}, ''[[The New Yorker]]''</ref> According to Wilentz, Beck "has brought neo-Birchite ideas to an audience beyond any that Welch or Skousen might have dreamed of."<ref name="NewYorker"/>

Other books that Beck regularly cites on his programs are [[Amity Shlaes]]'s ''[[The Forgotten Man: A New History of the Great Depression|The Forgotten Man]]'', [[Jonah Goldberg]]'s ''[[Liberal Fascism]]'', [[Larry Schweikart]] and Michael Allen's ''[[A Patriot's History of the United States]]'', and [[Burton W. Folsom, Jr.]]'s ''New Deal or Raw Deal''.<ref name="WeekSt"/> Beck has also urged his listeners to read ''[[The Coming Insurrection]]'', a book by a French [[Marxism|Marxist]] group<ref name="WeekSt"/> discussing what they see as the imminent collapse of capitalist culture.<ref>{{Cite news|title=Liberating Lipsticks and Lattes|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/16/books/16situation.html?_r=1|date=June 15, 2009|first=Colin|last=Moynihan|work=[[The New York Times]]|access-date=August 8, 2010|archive-date=April 29, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110429202532/http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/16/books/16situation.html?_r=1|url-status=live}}</ref>

On June 4, 2010, Beck endorsed [[Elizabeth Dilling]]'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, [[Joseph McCarthy|[Joseph] McCarthy]] was absolutely right ... This is, who were the communists in America."<ref name="June42010Beck">[http://www.glennbeck.com/content/articles/article/198/41526/ Glenn Beck: America's Next President?] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210124194826/http://www.glennbeck.com/content/articles/article/198/41526/ |date=January 24, 2021 }} – transcript from ''GlennBeck.com'', aired on June 4, 2010</ref> Beck was criticized by an array of people, including [[Menachem Z. Rosensaft]] and [[Joe Conason]], who said that Dilling was an outspoken [[Antisemitism|anti-Semite]] and a [[Nazism|Nazi]] sympathizer.<ref>[[Menachem Rosensaft|Rosensaft, Menachem]], [https://web.archive.org/web/20100709054031/http://www.jewishtimes.com/index.php/jewishtimes/news/jt/national_news/glenn_becks_nazi_loving_train_wreck "Glenn Beck's Nazi Loving Train Wreck"], ''[[Baltimore Jewish Times]]'', June 10, 2010</ref><ref>[[Joe Conason|Conason, Joe]], [http://www.salon.com/news/opinion/joe_conason/2010/06/07/dilling "Glenn Beck's Favorite Nazi"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110816050440/http://www.salon.com/news/opinion/joe_conason/2010/06/07/dilling |date=August 16, 2011 }}, ''[[Salon (magazine)|Salon]]'', June 7, 2010</ref><ref>Honoroff, Zach, [http://hnn.us/articles/127931.html "Who is Elizabeth Dilling, and Why is Glenn Beck a Fan?"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200923194206/http://hnn.us/articles/127931.html |date=September 23, 2020 }}, ''[[History News Network]]'', June 14, 2010</ref>

=== Religious ===
[[File:Glenn Beck Restoring Honor Hands Out.jpg|thumb|Beck during his religiously themed speech at the [[Restoring Honor rally]] on August 28, 2010]]

Beck has credited God for saving him from drug and alcohol abuse, professional obscurity, and friendlessness.<ref name="WPostRaised"/> In 2006, he performed an inspirational monologue in Salt Lake City, Utah,<ref name="Lynn Arave"/> detailing how he was transformed by the "healing power of Jesus Christ", which was released as a CD two years later by [[Deseret Book]], a publishing company owned by the LDS Church, entitled ''An Unlikely Mormon: The Conversion Story of Glenn Beck''.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20090713022743/http://deseretbook.com/item/5005573/An_Unlikely_Mormon_The_Conversion_Story_of_Glenn_Beck ''Unlikely Mormon: The Conversion Story of Glenn Beck''] – product description at ''Deseret Book''</ref>

Writer [[Joanna Brooks]] 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".<ref name="RDBrooks"/> Brooks theorizes that Beck's calls to [[fasting]] 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.<ref name="RDBrooks"/> [[Philip Barlow]], the Arrington chair of [[Mormon history]] [[Mormon culture|and culture]] at [[Utah State University]], has said that Beck's belief that the [[U.S. Constitution]] was an "inspired document" and his calls for [[limited government]] and not exiling God from the public sphere "have considerable sympathy in Mormonism".<ref name="MormonsRise">Sonmez, Felicia, [https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/09/02/AR2010090205524_pf.html "Mormons have Mixed Views of Beck's Rise"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161022065948/https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/09/02/AR2010090205524_pf.html |date=October 22, 2016 }}, ''[[The Washington Post]]'', September 3, 2010</ref> Beck has acknowledged that [[Mormonism and Nicene Christianity|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."<ref>[http://www.glennbeck.com/content/articles/article/198/1945/ Glenn not a Christian?] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210122032629/http://www.glennbeck.com/content/articles/article/198/1945/ |date=January 22, 2021 }} ''[[Glenn Beck Program]]'' Transcript from December 7, 2007</ref>

== Public reception ==
{{quote box
| quote = To his admirers, Glenn Beck has been a voice crying in the wilderness, a prophet who warns us that we have been wandering in darkness too long. To detractors, he is a clown and a buffoon, at best, a dangerous demagogue, at worst.
| source = –[[Lee Harris (essayist)|Lee Harris]], ''The Weekly Standard'', 2010<ref>Harris, Lee, [http://www.weeklystandard.com/articles/beyond-tea-party Beyond the Tea Party: The Broadening of a Movement] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100923224730/http://www.weeklystandard.com/articles/beyond-tea-party |date=September 23, 2010 }}, ''The Weekly Standard'', September 13, 2010, Vol. 15, No. 48</ref>
| width = 34%
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In 2009, Beck's show was one of the highest rated news commentary programs on cable TV.<ref>[https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2009-mar-06-et-foxnews6-story.html "Fox News' Glenn Beck strikes ratings gold by challenging Barack Obama"], Los Angeles ''Times'', March 6, 2009.</ref><ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20090315014058/http://www.mediabistro.com/tvnewser/fnc/beck_tops_hannity_second_biggest_draw_in_cable_news_111077.asp Beck Tops Hannity; Second Biggest Draw in Cable News], mediabistro.com, March 11, 2009.</ref><ref>"Big Beck: Goes over 3 million viewers, beats O'Reilly in demo: Cable News Ratings for Wednesday, August 26, 2009", ''[[TV by the Numbers]]'', August 27, 2009</ref><ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20090915202411/http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/346248-Cable_News_Ratings_Beck_Boosted_By_Healthcare_Address.php "Cable News Ratings: 'Beck' Boosted By Healthcare Address"], ''Broadcasting & Cable'', September 11, 2009.</ref> For a [[Barbara Walters]] [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]] special, Beck was selected as one of America's "Top 10 Most Fascinating People" of 2009.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/slideshow?id=9225910&page=3|work=[[ABC News (United States)|ABC News]]|last=Walters|first=Barbara|title=Top 10 Most Fascinating People of 2009|date=December 9, 2009|access-date=December 10, 2009|archive-date=January 30, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110130183932/http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/slideshow?id=9225910&page=3|url-status=live}}</ref> In 2010, he was selected for ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]''{{'}}s top 100 most influential people under the "Leaders" category.<ref>{{cite magazine|last=Palin |first=Sarah |url=http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1984685_1984864_1985415,00.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100501194524/http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1984685_1984864_1985415,00.html  |archive-date=May 1, 2010 |title=Time's 2010 Top 100 most influential people list |magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]] |date=April 29, 2010 |access-date=November 1, 2012}}</ref>

Beck has called himself an entertainer,<ref name="nytimesbeck">{{cite news|author=Bill Carter|author2=Brian Stelter|title=Fox News's Mad, Apocalyptic, Tearful Rising Star|date=March 31, 2009|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/30/business/media/30beck.html|work=[[The New York Times]]|access-date=July 31, 2009|archive-date=April 16, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090416004321/http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/30/business/media/30beck.html|url-status=live}}</ref> a commentator rather than a reporter,<ref>{{cite news|title=Glenn ambushed on 'The View'|first=T.|last=Jefferson|date=May 21, 2009|url=http://www.glennbeck.com/content/articles/article/201/25560/|work=Glennbeck.com|access-date=August 25, 2009|archive-date=May 23, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090523092618/http://www.glennbeck.com/content/articles/article/201/25560}}</ref> and a "rodeo clown".<ref name="nytimesbeck"/> He has said that he identifies with [[Howard Beale (Network)|Howard Beale]], a character portrayed by [[Peter Finch]] in the film ''[[Network (1976 film)|Network]]'': "When he came out of the rain and he was like, 'none of this makes any sense'—I am that guy."<ref name="ABCnewsinterview">{{cite news | first=John | last=Stossel | author-link=John Stossel | title=Glenn Beck on Glenn Beck | date=June 10, 2009 | publisher=[[ABC News (United States)|ABC News]] | url=https://abcnews.go.com/2020/Stossel/Story?id=7795824&page=4 | work=[[20/20 (US television series)|20/20]] | page=4 | access-date=July 31, 2009 | archive-date=August 15, 2009 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090815102757/http://abcnews.go.com/2020/Stossel/Story?id=7795824&page=4 | url-status=live }}</ref>

[[File:Glenn Beck (6238905221).jpg|thumb|Beck at CPAC 2011]]
According to ''[[Tampa Bay Times]]'', Beck's supporters have praised him as a [[United States Constitution|constitutional]] stalwart defending their traditional American values.<ref>Deggans, Eric (September 11, 2009), [http://www.tampabay.com/features/media/glenn-beck-fans-say-he-represents-their-american-values/1035513 Glenn Beck Fans say he Represents their American Values] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121031083948/http://www.tampabay.com/features/media/glenn-beck-fans-say-he-represents-their-american-values/1035513 |date=October 31, 2012 }}, ''[[St. Petersburg Times]]''</ref>

''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."<ref name="timebeck">{{cite magazine | first=James | last=Poniewozik | title=Glenn Beck: The Fears of a Clown | date=April 8, 2009 |url =http://www.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,1890174,00.html |archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20090411015930/http://www.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,1890174,00.html  |archive-date =April 11, 2009 | magazine =[[Time (magazine)|Time]] | access-date = July 31, 2009 }}</ref> ([[Paul Krugman]]<ref name="bighate">{{Cite news |title=The Big Hate |last=Krugman |first=Paul |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=June 11, 2009 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/12/opinion/12krugman.html?_r=1 |access-date=February 21, 2017 |archive-date=December 19, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161219221918/http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/12/opinion/12krugman.html?_r=1 |url-status=live }}</ref> and Mark Potok,<ref name="potok">{{cite news | title=The Rise of Militias and Hate Groups in the U.S. | date=March 31, 2010 | work=The Diane Rehm Show | publisher=[[WAMU]] | url=http://thedianerehmshow.org/shows/2010-03-31/rise-militias-and-hate-groups-us | access-date=March 31, 2010 | archive-date=April 1, 2010 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100401173227/http://thedianerehmshow.org/shows/2010-03-31/rise-militias-and-hate-groups-us | url-status=live }}</ref> 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.<ref name="timebeck" /> 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".<ref name="Time09" />

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".<ref name="nytimesbeck"/> One of Beck's [[Fox News Channel]] colleagues, [[Shepard Smith]], has jokingly called Beck's studio the "fear chamber", with Beck countering that he preferred the term "doom room".<ref name="Time09"/>

[[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] [[South Carolina]] [[United States Senate|U.S. Senator]] [[Lindsey Graham]] criticized Beck as a "cynic" whose show was antithetical to "American values" at ''[[The Atlantic]]'''s 2009 First Draft of History conference, remarking, "Only in America can you make that much money crying."<ref>Stein, Sam, [https://huffingtonpost.com/2009/10/01/sen-graham-calls-beck-a-c_n_306434.html?view=print "Sen. Graham Calls Beck 'A Cynic' And Birthers 'Crazy'" (article and video)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161022065501/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/10/01/sen-graham-calls-beck-a-c_n_306434.html?view=print |date=October 22, 2016 }}, ''[[The Huffington Post]]'', October 1, 2009.</ref> The progressive watchdog group [[Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting]]'s (FAIR) Activism Director, Peter Hart, argues that Beck [[redbaiting|red-baits]] political adversaries and promotes a paranoid view of progressive politics.<ref>Hart, Peter. [http://www.fair.org/index.php?page=4052 "Glenn Beck Gets Progressively More Paranoid"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100407150130/http://www.fair.org/index.php?page=4052 |date=April 7, 2010 }}. April 1, 2010</ref> 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."<ref name="WashPostKurtz"/>

Laura Miller writes in ''Salon'' that Beck is a contemporary example of "[[The Paranoid Style in American Politics|the paranoid style in American politics]]" described by historian [[Richard Hofstader]]:
{{blockquote|''The Paranoid Style in American Politics'' reads like a playbook for the career of Glenn Beck, right down to the paranoid's "quality of pedantry" and "heroic strivings for 'evidence{{'"}}, embodied in Beck's chalkboard and piles of books. But Beck lacks an archenemy commensurate with his stratospheric ambitions, which makes him appear even more absurd to outsiders.<ref>[http://www.salon.com/books/laura_miller/2010/09/15/hofstadter Laura Miller, "The paranoid style in American punditry", ''Salon'', September 15, 2010] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110124114916/http://www.salon.com/books/laura_miller/2010/09/15/hofstadter |date=January 24, 2011 }}. Accessed February 1, 2011</ref>}}

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".<ref>Mcdonough, Katie (May 28, 2013). [http://www.salon.com/2013/05/28/glenn_beck_there_is_a_conspiracy_to_label_me_a_conspiracy_theorist/ "Glenn Beck: There is a conspiracy to label me a conspiracy theorist"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130602214638/http://www.salon.com/2013/05/28/glenn_beck_there_is_a_conspiracy_to_label_me_a_conspiracy_theorist/ |date=June 2, 2013 }}. ''Salon''. Retrieved June 2, 2013.</ref>{{Better source needed|reason=The current source is insufficiently reliable ([[WP:NOTRS]]).|date=October 2022}}

Particularly as a consequence of Beck's [[Restoring Honor rally]] in 2010, the fact that Beck is [[Mormon]] caused concern among some politically sympathetic Christian [[Evangelicals]] on [[theological]] grounds.<ref name="TCD">Heagney, Meredith, [http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/faith_values/stories/2010/09/03/becks-faith-troubles-some-fans.html?sid=101 Beck's Faith Troubles some Fans: Religious Right has Issues with his Mormon Beliefs] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100907063158/http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/faith_values/stories/2010/09/03/becks-faith-troubles-some-fans.html?sid=101 |date=September 7, 2010 }}, ''[[The Columbus Dispatch]]'', September 3, 2010</ref><ref name="dispatch">Posner, Sarah, [http://www.religiondispatches.org/dispatches/sarahposner/3255/evangelicals_have_%E2%80%9Cdeep_concerns%E2%80%9D_about_beck/ Evangelicals have "Deep Concerns" about Beck] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100903155340/http://www.religiondispatches.org/dispatches/sarahposner/3255/evangelicals_have_%E2%80%9Cdeep_concerns%E2%80%9D_about_beck/ |date=September 3, 2010 }}, ''[[Religion Dispatches]]'', September 1, 2010</ref><ref>Banks, Adelle M., [http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/lifestyle/50196925-80/beck-evangelicals-rally-mormon.html.csp Glenn Beck Leads, but will Evangelicals Follow?] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100905110407/http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/lifestyle/50196925-80/beck-evangelicals-rally-mormon.html.csp |date=September 5, 2010 }}, ''[[The Salt Lake Tribune]]'', September 4, 2010</ref><ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20100905060713/http://news.yahoo.com/s/theweek/20100831/cm_theweek/206644 "Does it Matter that Glenn Beck is a Mormon?"], ''[[The Week]]'', Yahoo!, August 31, 2010</ref> Tom Tradup, vice president at [[Salem Radio Network]], 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?"<ref name="WPostRaised">Boorstein, Michelle, [https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/08/30/AR2010083005268_pf.html Beck's Marriage of Politics and Religion Raising Questions] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200112191411/https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/08/30/AR2010083005268_pf.html |date=January 12, 2020 }}, ''[[The Washington Post]]'', August 31, 2010</ref> 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.<ref name="PRRIPoll">[https://web.archive.org/web/20100926182352/http://www.religionnews.com/index.php?%2Fpressreleases%2Fnew_survey_less_than_1_in_5_support_fox_news_host_glenn_beck_as_religious_l%2F "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</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.religionnews.com/index.php?/polls/poll_glenn_beck_the_wrong_leader_for_religious_revival/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100924023650/http://www.religionnews.com/index.php?%2Fpolls%2Fpoll_glenn_beck_the_wrong_leader_for_religious_revival%2F|archive-date=September 24, 2010|title=Religion News Tracking Poll: Poll: Glenn Beck the wrong leader to head religious movement|date=September 24, 2010}}</ref> Daniel Cox, director of research for PRRI, summed up this position by stating:
{{blockquote|The disparity between Glenn Beck's favorability ratings and how people feel about him as a religious leader suggests that people are more drawn to him for political reasons than religious ones. Many of Beck's strongest supporters, such as Republicans and white Evangelicals, perceive real differences between their own faith and Beck's Mormon faith, and this may become a liability in his efforts to lead as a religious figure.<ref name="PRRIPoll"/>}}

Pete Peterson of [[Pepperdine School of Public Policy|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]]s, [[pastor]]s, [[rabbi]]s, and [[imam]]s, Beck [gave] one of the more [[ecumenical]] [[jeremiad]]s in history."<ref>{{cite web|url = http://www.american.com/archive/2010/october/glenn-beck-jon-stewart-and-the-science-of-the-jeremiad|title = Glenn Beck, Jon Stewart, and the Science of the Jeremiad|first = Pete|last = Peterson|date = October 27, 2010|work=The American: The Journal of the [[American Enterprise Institute]]|access-date = October 27, 2010|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20101028234441/http://www.american.com/archive/2010/october/glenn-beck-jon-stewart-and-the-science-of-the-jeremiad|archive-date = October 28, 2010}}</ref> Evangelical pastor [[Tony Campolo]] 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]]'' religion reporter [[Lisa Miller (journalist)|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."<ref>{{cite news|url = http://www.newsweek.com/2010/12/09/one-nation-under-god.html|work=[[Newsweek]]|title = One Nation Under God|first = Lisa|last = Miller|author-link = Lisa Miller (journalist)|date = December 9, 2010|access-date = December 12, 2010|archive-date = December 12, 2010|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20101212222041/http://www.newsweek.com/2010/12/09/one-nation-under-god.html|url-status = live}}</ref>

=== 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''.<ref>[http://voices.washingtonpost.com/right-now/2010/06/interview_alexander_zaitchik_o.html "Alexander Zaitchik on his new Biography of Glenn Beck, ''Common Nonsense''"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110422192354/http://voices.washingtonpost.com/right-now/2010/06/interview_alexander_zaitchik_o.html |date=April 22, 2011 }}, interview by [[David Weigel]], ''[[The Washington Post]]'', June 2, 2010</ref> In an interview about the book, Zaitchik theorized, "Beck's politics and his insatiable hunger for money and fame are not [[mutually exclusive]]", adding:
{{blockquote|Beck's true religion is not Patriotism, Mormonism, or Conservatism. His true religion is cross-platform self-marketing ... According to Beck's worldview, there's no inherent contradiction between his sophisticated instinct for self-promotion, his propagandist rodeo clown act, his self-image as a media mogul, and his professed belief system. I think he actually believes that God wants him to make a ton of money and become this huge celebrity by fear mongering and generally doing whatever it takes in the media to promote right-wing causes.<ref name="Anchorage">Holthouse, David, and Brendan Joel Kelley, [https://wayback.archive-it.org/all/20151021215956/http://www.anchoragepress.com/news/deconstructing-glenn-beck-author-recent-glenn-beck-biography-reveals-what-he%E2%80%99s-learned-about Deconstructing Glenn Beck – The Author of a Recent Glenn Beck Biography Reveals what he's Learned about the Conservative Pundit due to Speak in Anchorage on September 11], ''[[Anchorage Press]]'', September 8, 2010.</ref>}}

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''.<ref name="Cesca">[[Bob Cesca|Cesca, Bob]], [https://huffingtonpost.com/bob-cesca/glenn-beck-the-faith-heal_b_702586.html?view=print Glenn Beck the Faith-Healer Continues to Scam His Followers] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161022065522/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/bob-cesca/glenn-beck-the-faith-heal_b_702586.html?view=print |date=October 22, 2016 }}, ''[[The Huffington Post]]'', September 1, 2010</ref> One of Bunch's theses is that Beck is nothing more than a [[morning zoo]] deejay playing a fictional character as a money-making stunt.<ref name="Cesca"/> Writer [[Bob Cesca]], in a review of Bunch's book, compares Beck to [[Steve Martin]]'s faith-healer character in the 1992 film ''[[Leap of Faith (film)|Leap of Faith]]'', before describing the "derivative grab bag of other tried and tested personalities" that Bunch contends comprises Beck's persona:

{{blockquote|His [Beck's] adenoidal "Clydie Clyde" voice is based on morning zoo pioneer Scott Shannon's "Mr. Leonard" character. His history is borrowed from the widely debunked work of W. Cleon Skousen. His conspiracy theories are horked from Alex Jones and maybe Jack Van Impe. His anti-Obama, anti-socialist monologues are pure Joe McCarthy. His chalkboard is stolen from televangelist Gene Scott. His solemn, over-processed radio monologue delivery is a dead ringer for Eric Bogosian in ''Talk Radio''. This is all well-worn stuff, but no one has drawn it all together and sculpted it for the purpose of conning an especially susceptible audience during turbulent racial and economic times.<ref name="Cesca"/>}}

In October 2010 a polemical biography by [[Dana Milbank]] was released: ''[[Tears of a Clown: Glenn Beck and the Tea Bagging of America]]''.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://huffingtonpost.com/dana-milbank/post_996_b_749750.html|work=[[HuffPost]]|title=Mormon Prophecy Behind Glenn Beck's Message|first=Dana|last=Milbank|date=October 5, 2010|access-date=December 11, 2019|archive-date=July 9, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180709145309/https://www.huffingtonpost.com/dana-milbank/post_996_b_749750.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

=== 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]] on ''[[Saturday Night Live]]''.<ref name="knickerbocker26Sep09">{{cite news|first=Brad|last=Knickerbocker|title=Glenn Beck goes home to face – what else? – controversy|date=September 26, 2009|url=http://features.csmonitor.com/politics/2009/09/26/glenn-beck-goes-home-to-face-what-else-controversy|work=[[The Christian Science Monitor]]|access-date=October 1, 2009|archive-date=October 1, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091001133128/http://features.csmonitor.com/politics/2009/09/26/glenn-beck-goes-home-to-face-what-else-controversy/|url-status=live}}</ref> ''[[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",<ref>{{cite video|people=[[Jon Stewart]]|date=November 5, 2009|title=The 11/3 Project|url=http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/thu-november-5-2009/the-11-3-project|format=[[Flash video]]|medium=[[Television production]]|publisher=[[Comedy Central]]|time=7:50–7:55|access-date=January 24, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100118160013/http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/thu-november-5-2009/the-11-3-project|archive-date=January 18, 2010}}</ref> impersonated Beck's chalk board-related presentation style for an entire show,<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20100616204955/http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/thu-march-18-2010/conservative-libertarian "Video: Conservative Libertarian"], ''[[The Daily Show with Jon Stewart]]'', March 18, 2010</ref> and quipped about Beck: "finally, a guy who says what people who aren't thinking are thinking".<ref name="Stossel17Jun09">{{cite news|first=John|last=Stossel|title=A Refreshing Spin on Cable TV|date=June 17, 2009|url=http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/06/17/a_refreshing_spin_on_cable_tv_97025.html|work=[[RealClearPolitics]] (originally broadcast by [[20/20 (US television series)|20/20]])|access-date=October 1, 2009|archive-date=June 28, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090628191741/http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/06/17/a_refreshing_spin_on_cable_tv_97025.html|url-status=live}}</ref> [[Stephen Colbert (character)|Stephen Colbert]] of ''[[The Colbert Report]]'' satirized Beck's "war room" by creating his own "doom bunker".<ref>[http://www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-videos/220649/march-04-2009/doom-bunker---glenn-beck-s--war-room- Video: Doom Bunker, Glenn Beck's "War Room"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100326205617/http://www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-videos/220649/march-04-2009/doom-bunker---glenn-beck-s--war-room- |date=March 26, 2010 }} from ''[[The Colbert Report]]'', aired on March 4, 2009</ref> Through the character [[Eric Cartman]], ''[[South Park]]'' parodied Beck's television program and his commentary style in the episode "[[Dances with Smurfs]]".<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2009/11/south-park-does-glenn-beck/30090|title=South Park Does Glenn Beck|last=Good|first=Chris|date=November 12, 2009|work=[[The Atlantic]]|access-date=April 23, 2010|archive-date=May 6, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100506005919/http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2009/11/south-park-does-glenn-beck/30090|url-status=live}}</ref> ''[[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".<ref>[http://www.theonion.com/video/victim-in-fatal-car-accident-tragically-not-glenn,14380/ Video: "Victim in Fatal Car Accident Tragically Not Glenn Beck"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100408214520/http://www.theonion.com/video/victim-in-fatal-car-accident-tragically-not-glenn,14380/ |date=April 8, 2010 }}, ''[[Onion News Network]]''</ref> 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".<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20100522091256/http://current.com/shows/supernews/89942213_the-glenn-beck-apocalypse.htm Video: "The Glenn Beck Apocalypse"] by ''[[Current TV]]''s ''[[SuperNews!]]''</ref> Political comedian and satirist [[Bill Maher]] has mocked Beck's followers as an "army of [[diabetes|diabetic]] [[Mall walking|mallwalkers]]",<ref>[[Bill Maher|Maher, Bill]], [https://huffingtonpost.com/2010/09/14/bill_maher_glenn_beck_n_716897.html?view=print "Bill Maher Talks Glenn Beck's 'Diabetic Mall-Walkers', Summer Of Racism" (video)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161022065742/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/09/14/bill_maher_glenn_beck_n_716897.html?view=print |date=October 22, 2016 }}, ''[[The Huffington Post]]'', September 15, 2010</ref> 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."<ref name="beingglenn"/> 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,<ref>Hartenstein, Meena (October 31, 2010), [http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/2010/10/31/2010-10-31_jon_stewarts_rally_to_restore_sanity_drew_200000_beating_estimated_attendance_at.html "Jon Stewart's 'Rally to Restore Sanity' drew 200,000, beating estimated attendance at Glenn Beck's"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101102231723/http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/2010/10/31/2010-10-31_jon_stewarts_rally_to_restore_sanity_drew_200000_beating_estimated_attendance_at.html |date=November 2, 2010 }}, ''Daily News'' (New York), October 31, 2010.</ref> even though Stewart and Colbert said that they came up with the idea of holding a rally in March<ref>{{cite web|title=Press Conference – Stephen Stuffed in the Capsule| work=Comedy Central |url=http://www.comedycentral.com/videos/index.jhtml?videoId=363898&title=press-conference-stephen|access-date=October 30, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101104203952/http://www.comedycentral.com/videos/index.jhtml?videoId=363898&title=press-conference-stephen|archive-date=November 4, 2010}}</ref> and Stewart had put down the deposit for the National Mall before Beck announced his rally.<ref>{{cite web|title=Press Conference – Internet Influence| work=Comedy Central |url=http://www.comedycentral.com/videos/index.jhtml?videoId=363888&title=press-conference-internet|access-date=October 30, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101102232620/http://www.comedycentral.com/videos/index.jhtml?videoId=363888&title=press-conference-internet|archive-date=November 2, 2010}}</ref>

== 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]], along with his distributor [[Premiere Radio Networks]]. 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.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.scribd.com/document/215481385/Complaint-4837-8616-1945-v-1#download|title=Complaint|work=Abdulrahman Alharbi v. Glenn Beck; The Blaze, Inc., Mercury Radio Arts, Inc., and Premiere Radio Networks, Inc.|publisher=[[United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts|U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts]]|date=March 28, 2014|access-date=September 14, 2016|archive-date=September 15, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160915102213/https://www.scribd.com/document/215481385/Complaint-4837-8616-1945-v-1#download|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="GersteinSettlementReached">Josh Gerstein, [http://www.politico.com/blogs/under-the-radar/2016/09/glenn-beck-reaches-settlement-with-saudi-student-accused-in-boston-marathon-bombing-228123 Glenn Beck reaches settlement with Saudi student over Boston Marathon accusations] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201108133830/https://www.politico.com/blogs/under-the-radar/2016/09/glenn-beck-reaches-settlement-with-saudi-student-accused-in-boston-marathon-bombing-228123 |date=November 8, 2020 }}, ''[[Politico]]'' (September 13, 2016).</ref> In December 2014, the judge rejected Beck's attempt to have the case dismissed.<ref>Josh Gerstein, [http://www.politico.com/blogs/under-the-radar/2014/12/glenn-beck-loses-bid-to-dismiss-saudis-libel-suit-199438.html Glenn Beck loses bid to dismiss Saudi's libel suit] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150508012033/http://www.politico.com/blogs/under-the-radar/2014/12/glenn-beck-loses-bid-to-dismiss-saudis-libel-suit-199438.html |date=May 8, 2015 }}, ''[[Politico]]'' (December 2, 2014).</ref> In September 2016, the suit was [[Settlement (law)|settled]] on confidential terms.<ref name="GersteinSettlementReached"/>

==Works==
'''Non-fiction'''
* {{cite book |title=The Real America: Messages from the Heart and Heartland |year=2003 |publisher=[[Simon & Schuster]] |isbn=978-0-7434-9696-4 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/realamericaearly0000beck }}<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/30/books/bestseller/0330besthardnonfiction.html |title=Best Sellers: Hardcover Nonfiction |newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|date=March 30, 2008 |access-date=February 21, 2017 |archive-date=October 21, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151021220417/http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/30/books/bestseller/0330besthardnonfiction.html |url-status=live }}</ref>
* {{cite book |title=An Inconvenient Book: Real Solutions to the World's Biggest Problems |year=2007 |publisher=[[Simon & Schuster]] |isbn=978-1-4165-5219-2}}
* {{cite book |title=America's March to Socialism: Why We're One Step Closer to Giant Missile Parades |year=2008 }} (Audiobook).
* ''An Unlikely Mormon: The Conversion Story of Glenn Beck'', [[Deseret Book]] 2008 (Audiobook). {{ISBN|978-1-59038-944-7}}.
* ''[[Arguing with Idiots]]: How to Stop Small Minds and Big Government'', Simon & Schuster 2009. {{ISBN|978-1-4165-9501-4}}.
* ''Glenn Beck's Common Sense: The Case Against an Out-of-Control Government'', Simon & Schuster 2009. {{ISBN|978-1-4391-6857-8}}.<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/05/books/bestseller/bestpapernonfiction.html Best Sellers: Paperback Nonfiction], ''[[The New York Times]]'', June 26, 2009</ref><ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/18/books/bestseller/bestpapernonfiction.html Best Sellers: Paperback Nonfiction], ''[[The New York Times]]'', October 9, 2009</ref>
* ''America's March to Socialism: Why We're One Step Closer to Giant Missile Parades'', Simon & Schuster Audio 2009 (Audio CD). {{ISBN|978-0-7435-9854-5}}.
* ''Idiots Unplugged'', Simon & Schuster 2010 (Audio CD). {{ISBN|1-4423-3396-0}}.
* ''[[Broke: The Plan to Restore Our Trust, Truth, and Treasure]]'', Simon & Schuster 2010. {{ISBN|1-4423-3457-6}}.<ref name="Broke">{{cite news |url=http://www.rapidcityjournal.com/news/article_e9ce8ea6-d0ba-11df-b921-001cc4c03286.html |title=It's official: Glenn Beck to speak in Rapid City |work=Rapid City Journal |date=October 6, 2010 |access-date=March 9, 2012 |archive-date=October 9, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101009021307/http://www.rapidcityjournal.com/news/article_e9ce8ea6-d0ba-11df-b921-001cc4c03286.html |url-status=live }}</ref>
* ''The 7: Seven Wonders That Will Change Your Life'', [[Keith Ablow]], co-author; [[Threshold Editions]], 2011; {{ISBN|978-1-4516-2551-6}}.
* {{cite book|title = Being George Washington: The Indispensable Man, As You've Never Seen Him|publisher=[[Simon & Schuster]]|year = 2011|isbn = 978-1-4516-5931-3}}
* ''The Original Argument: The Federalists' Case for the Constitution, Adapted for the 21st Century'', with Joshua Charles; Threshold Editions, 2011; {{ISBN|978-1-4516-5061-7}}.
* {{cite book|title = Cowards: What Politicians, Radicals, and the Media Refuse to Say|url = https://archive.org/details/isbn_9781451693478|publisher=[[Simon & Schuster]]|year = 2012|isbn = 978-1-4516-9347-8}}
* {{cite book|title = Miracles and Massacres: True and Untold Stories of the Making of America|publisher=[[Threshold Editions]]|year = 2013|isbn = 978-1-4767-6474-0}}
* {{cite book|title = Dreamers and Deceivers: True Stories of the Heroes and Villains Who Made America|publisher=[[Threshold Editions]]|year = 2014|isbn = 978-1-4767-8389-5}}
* ''Liars: How Progressives Exploit Our Fears for Power and Control'', Threshold Editions 2016. {{ISBN|978-1-4767-9885-1}}
* ''Addicted to Outrage: How Thinking Like a Recovering Addict Can Heal the Country'', Threshold Editions 2018. {{ISBN|978-1-4767-9886-8}}
* ''The Great Reset: Joe Biden and the Rise of Twenty-First-Century Fascism'', Justin Haskins, co-author; Forefront Books, 2021; {{ISBN|978-1-6376-3059-4}}.

'''''Control'' series'''
* {{cite book|title=Control: Exposing the Truth About Guns|year=2013|publisher=[[Threshold Editions]]|isbn=978-1-4767-3988-5|url=https://archive.org/details/controlexposingt01beck}}
* {{cite book|title=Conform: Exposing the Truth About Common Core and Public Education|year= 2014|publisher=[[Threshold Editions]]|isbn=978-1-4767-7388-9}}
* {{cite book|title = It IS About Islam: Exposing the Truth About ISIS, Al Qaeda, Iran, and the Caliphate|publisher=[[Threshold Editions]]|year= 2015|isbn = 978-1-5011-2612-3|url =https://archive.org/details/itisaboutislamex0000beck|url-access = registration}}

'''Fiction'''
* ''The Christmas Sweater'', Simon & Schuster 2008. {{ISBN|978-1-4165-9485-7}}.
* ''[[The Overton Window]]'', Threshold Editions J2010.<ref>{{cite news|title=Best Sellers: Hardcover Fiction|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/04/books/bestseller/besthardfiction.html|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=June 25, 2010|access-date=August 29, 2010|first=Jennifer|last=Schuessler|archive-date=June 28, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100628073351/http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/04/books/bestseller/besthardfiction.html|url-status=live}}</ref> {{ISBN|978-1-4391-8430-1}}
* {{cite book|title = The Snow Angel|first1 = Glenn|last1 = Beck|first2 = Nicole|last2 = Baart|publisher=[[Threshold Editions]]|year = 2011|isbn = 978-1-4391-8720-3|url = https://archive.org/details/snowangel00beck}}
* {{cite book|title = Agenda 21|first1 = Glenn|last1 = Beck|first2 = Harriet|last2 = Parke|publisher=[[Threshold Editions]]|year = 2012|isbn = 978-1-4767-1669-5|url = https://archive.org/details/isbn_9781476716695}}
* ''The Eye of [[Moloch]]'', Threshold Editions June 2013.<ref>{{cite news|title=Best Sellers: Hardcover Fiction|url=https://www.nytimes.com/books/best-sellers/2013/07/07/hardcover-fiction/?_r=0|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=July 7, 2013|access-date=January 9, 2017|archive-date=September 22, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180922193951/https://www.nytimes.com/books/best-sellers/2013/07/07/hardcover-fiction/?_r=0|url-status=live}}</ref> {{ISBN|978-1-4516-3583-6}}
* ''Agenda 21: Into the Shadows'', Threshold Editions 2015. {{ISBN|978-1-4767-4682-1}}
* ''[[The Immortal Nicholas]]'', Mercury Ink 2015. {{ISBN|978-1-4767-9884-4}}

'''Children's'''
* ''The Christmas Sweater: A Picture Book'', Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing 2009. {{ISBN|978-1-4169-9543-2}}.
* {{cite book|title = The Snow Angel|first1 = Glenn|last1 = Beck|first2 = Chris|last2 = Schoebinger|first3 = Brandon (illustrator)|last3 = Dorman|publisher= [[Aladdin Books]]|year = 2011|isbn = 978-1-4424-4448-5}}

'''As comic book author'''
* ''Political Power: Glenn Beck'', by Jerome Maida, Mark Sparacio (illus.); [[Bluewater Productions]], 2011<ref>{{cite news|url=http://bltwy.msnbc.msn.com/politics/first-look-glenn-beck-gets-a-comic-book-1667988-1667989.story |publisher=[[MSNBC]] |title=BLTWY: First Look: Glenn Beck Gets a Comic Book |date=November 19, 2010  |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110422193250/http://bltwy.msnbc.msn.com/politics/first-look-glenn-beck-gets-a-comic-book-1667988-1667989.story |archive-date=April 22, 2011 }}</ref><ref>{{ASIN|B004VGB4FO}}</ref>

== See also ==
* [[Beck University]]
* [[Conservative talk radio]]
* [[List of most-listened-to radio programs]]

== References ==
{{reflist|colwidth=30em}}

== External links ==
{{Sister project links|Glenn Beck|wikt=no|v=no|b=no}}
* {{official website|https://www.glennbeck.com/}}
* [http://www.the912project.com/ Glenn Beck&nbsp;– The 912 Project] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110102122146/http://www.the912project.com/ |date=January 2, 2011 }}
* {{IMDb name|2253512}}
* {{C-SPAN|9266966}}

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