Every terrifying thing you need to know about NYC’s intifada-embracing, communist mayoral threat, Zohran Mamdani



On September 11, 2001, nearly 2,500 Americans were killed when two planes hijacked by Muslim terrorists struck New York City’s Twin Towers. It’s been less than 24 years, and now that same city has elected Zohran Mamdani — a “communist,” “Muslim radical,” and “jihadist apologist” — as its Democratic mayoral candidate.

Mamdani is a 33-year-old Democratic socialist backed by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.). He openly supports the Palestinian-led Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement, refuses to condemn the phrase "globalize the intifada," and proposes rent freezes, city-owned grocery stores, a $30 minimum wage, and a Department of Community Safety to reduce reliance on police.

All it took was 24 years for NYC to go “completely insane,” says Glenn Beck.

Mamdani was endorsed and funded to the tune of $100,000 by the Council on American-Islamic Relations, which has been accused by multiple U.S. government officials, including federal prosecutors and FBI agents as well as several conservative advocacy groups, as being a Hamas front group and a terrorist organization.

He also received campaign donations from multiple faculty members from Columbia University, where several pro-Palestinian protests, many involving violent incidents, have erupted since 2023. Some of these donors even signed a letter defending Hamas’ October 7, 2023, attacks.

In a 2024 Facebook post, Mamdani’s campaign political director, Julian Gerson, wrote that he was “looking forward to driving down Mangione Avenue a few decades from now.” The post was seen as expressing direct support for Luigi Mangione – the man charged with the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.

“Sounds like supporting killing people in the streets,” says Glenn.

On June 17, Mamdani appeared on “The Bulwark Podcast” hosted by Tim Miller and equated the phrase “globalize the intifada” to “a desperate desire for equality and equal rights in standing up for Palestinian human rights,” arguing that the word “intifada” means “struggle” or “uprising” in Arabic. He even suggested that the term was used by the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Arabic to describe the Jewish Warsaw Ghetto Uprising against the Nazis — a sentiment the museum condemned as “outrageous and especially offensive to survivors.”

Glenn makes an excellent point: If “intifada” describes the Jewish uprising at Warsaw, “then [globalize the intifada] is not just a harmless kind of slogan about human rights; it is a call for violence on the streets,” as the Warsaw uprising was a bloody affair marked by fierce urban combat and executions.

Mamdani’s father, a current professor at Columbia University, has denied that terror and violence are an inherent part of Islam. His book, “Good Muslim, Bad Muslim: America, the Cold War, and the Roots of Terror,” argues that terrorism is a modern political phenomenon, not a product of Islamic culture, and is often rooted in historical encounters with Western power.

“I've read the Quran and much of the Hadith, and I'm pretty sure the violence is a part of that,” says Glenn, noting that the Americans supporting the pro-Palestine movement and people like Zohran Mamdani, condemning any opposition as “Islamophobia,” are ironically the first people who will be in the crosshairs if an Islamic takeover happens.

“The progressive left — the champions of feminism, LGBTQ rights, and secularism — they're going to stand with the people who want to kill them first,” he says.

But right now, that isn’t a concern for the left. They’re amped about Mamdani’s plans to “tax the rich” so he can provide “free buses” and “city-run grocery stores.”

“I'm old enough to remember those city-run grocery stores in Moscow. They were great; the shelves were empty, but that's just Moscow. I mean it worked out completely different in Venezuela where ... oh, no, it didn't. ... They were eating the zoo animals,” mocks Glenn. This is communist dogma at work, he says, and it’s responsible for the “deaths of 100 million people.”

“Get the hell out of New York City. This is about survival,” he warns.

To hear more about New York’s new Democrat mayoral candidate, watch the clip above.

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New York City’s likely next mayor wants to ‘globalize the intifada’



It only took 25 years for New York City to go from the resilient, flag-waving pride following the 9/11 attacks to a political fever dream. To quote Michael Malice, “I'm old enough to remember when New Yorkers endured 9/11 instead of voting for it.”

Malice is talking about Zohran Mamdani, a Democratic Socialist assemblyman from Queens now eyeing the mayor’s office. Mamdani, a 33-year-old state representative emerging from relative political obscurity, is now receiving substantial funding for his mayoral campaign from the Council on American-Islamic Relations.

CAIR has a long and concerning history, including being born out of the Muslim Brotherhood and named an unindicted co-conspirator in the Holy Land Foundation terror funding case. Why would the group have dropped $100,000 into a PAC backing Mamdani’s campaign?

Mamdani blends political Islam with Marxist economics — two ideologies that have left tens of millions dead in the 20th century alone.

Perhaps CAIR has a vested interest in Mamdani’s call to “globalize the intifada.” That’s not a call for peaceful protest. Intifada refers to historic uprisings of Muslims against what they call the “Israeli occupation of Palestine.” Suicide bombings and street violence are part of the playbook. So when Mamdani says he wants to “globalize” that, who exactly is the enemy in this global scenario? Because it sure sounds like he's saying America is the new Israel, and anyone who supports Western democracy is the new Zionist.

Mamdani tried to clean up his language by citing the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, which once used “intifada” in an Arabic-language article to describe the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. So now he’s comparing Palestinians to Jewish victims of the Nazis? If that doesn’t twist your stomach into knots, you’re not paying attention.

If you’re “globalizing” an intifada, and positioning Israel — and now America — as the Nazis, that’s not a cry for human rights. That’s a call for chaos and violence.

Rising Islamism

But hey, this is New York. Faculty members at Columbia University — where Mamdani’s own father once worked — signed a letter defending students who supported Hamas after October 7. They also contributed to Mamdani’s mayoral campaign. And his father? He blamed Ronald Reagan and the religious right for inspiring Islamic terrorism, as if the roots of 9/11 grew in Washington, not the caves of Tora Bora.

RELATED: Socialist Zohran Mamdani upsets Andrew Cuomo in Democratic primary election for NYC mayor race

Photo by Madison Swart via Getty Images

This isn’t about Islam as a faith. We should distinguish between Islam and Islamism. Islam is a religion followed peacefully by millions. Islamism is something entirely different — an ideology that seeks to merge mosque and state, impose Sharia law, and destroy secular liberal democracies from within. Islamism isn’t about prayer and fasting. It’s about power.

Criticizing Islamism is not Islamophobia. It is not an attack on peaceful Muslims. In fact, Muslims are often its first victims.

Islamism is misogynistic, theocratic, violent, and supremacist. It’s hostile to free speech, religious pluralism, gay rights, secularism — even to moderate Muslims. Yet somehow, the progressive left — the same left that claims to fight for feminism, LGBTQ rights, and free expression — finds itself defending candidates like Mamdani. You can’t make this stuff up.

Blending the worst ideologies

And if that weren’t enough, Mamdani also identifies as a Democratic Socialist. He blends political Islam with Marxist economics — two ideologies that have left tens of millions dead in the 20th century alone. But don’t worry, New York. I’m sure this time socialism will totally work. Just like it always didn’t.

If you’re a business owner, a parent, a person who’s saved anything, or just someone who values sanity: Get out. I’m serious. If Mamdani becomes mayor, as seems likely, then New York City will become a case study in what happens when you marry ideological extremism with political power. And it won’t be pretty.

This is about more than one mayoral race. It’s about the future of Western liberalism. It’s about drawing a bright line between faith and fanaticism, between healthy pluralism and authoritarian dogma.

Call out radicalism

We must call out political Islam the same way we call out white nationalism or any other supremacist ideology. When someone chants “globalize the intifada,” that should send a chill down your spine — whether you’re Jewish, Christian, Muslim, atheist, or anything in between.

The left may try to shame you into silence with words like “Islamophobia,” but the record is worn out. The grooves are shallow. The American people see what’s happening. And we’re not buying it.

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MORE evidence the Obamas are breaking up?



Rumors that Barack and Michelle Obama are on the brink of divorce have been circulating since early this year. Sparked by Michelle’s absence from high-profile events, most notably Jimmy Carter’s funeral and President Donald Trump’s inauguration, the gossip soon turned from whispers into frenzied chatter when suspicions that Barack was having an affair with Jennifer Aniston began to spread.

The couple has denied the rumors, reaffirming their commitment through affectionate social media posts and Michelle’s appearance on the “Work in Progress" podcast with Sophia Bush.

For a while, the rumors quieted down, but Michelle’s recent comments on the “Las Culturistas” podcast on June 18 have caused them to surge again.

On a recent episode of “The Glenn Beck Program,” Glenn and co-host Stu Burguiere addressed this latest development that’s reignited divorce speculation.

Michelle corrected Matt Rogers, one of the hosts on “Las Culturistas,” when he called her “Mrs. Obama.”

“We cannot have a real conversation if you’re saying 'Mrs. Obama.' That’s too many syllables,” she said, adding that she’s been trying to get people to call her Michelle since she was the first lady. “Like, I am not that position. I am Michelle.”

“I'm always trying to break down that wall to say, we're just all here, you know? And the first thing to do is, like, let's drop that title. That's a little heavy. You know, that kind of changes the dynamic, so I'm Michelle,” she explained.

Glenn reads between the lines and suggests that it seems like she’s saying, “I don’t like to remember that I’m married.”

“Wouldn't that be a problem if you were married to Michelle Obama?” he asks.

On the same day, Michelle said something else that hinted all isn’t well between her and Barack. On her own podcast, “IMO,” which she hosts with her brother Craig Robinson, she told guest Angie Martinez, “I’m so glad I didn’t have a boy because he would’ve been a Barack Obama.”

“I don’t think these are rumors anymore,” Glenn says.

“Do you actually believe that Barack Obama is having an affair with Jennifer Aniston?” Stu asks.

“Yeah, I think there’s a good chance of that,” says Glenn, adding that he estimates a “50% chance” the infidelity is true. However, he’s 90% sure there are relationship problems of some sort going on.

“I’m not there ... but I can read the tea leaves,” he says.

To hear more of Glenn and Stu’s speculation about what is going on behind closed doors at the Obama residence, watch the episode above.

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Expert explains why Trump’s Iran strike did NOT violate the Constitution



Progressives like Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), and Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) — and even some Republicans, including Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) — are calling President Trump’s strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities unconstitutional because he didn’t get congressional approval. They point to Article I of the U.S. Constitution, which grants Congress the sole power to declare war, and the War Powers Resolution of 1973, which requires congressional authorization for prolonged or substantial military actions unless responding to an imminent attack, as evidence that his actions were unjustified.

AOC and Democratic Rep. Sean Casten (D-Ill.) have even gone so far as to claim that the strikes are an impeachable offense.

To get clarity on the issue, Glenn Beck brought in Gabriel Noronha, president of Polaris National Security and former State Department special adviser for Iran.

“Did the president need to have congressional permission before striking Iran over the weekend?” Glenn asks.

“No, he did not,” is Noronha’s candid answer.

“It would have been nice to have. It strengthens the president's hand when he does have congressional authorization for the use of military force. But the Constitution grants him the powers as commander in chief to take all necessary actions, especially in a limited fashion like he just did,” he explains.

Glenn agrees, adding, “They never said anything about ISIS when he went after ISIS and shut them down, right? ... Why all of a sudden is this one so different than all of the limited strikes we have seen from all of the presidents recently?”

Noronha reiterates Glenn’s frustration, pointing to “Libya 2011” as well as “ISIS 2014-15,” where “more intense” versions of the “the same scenario” played out, but “Democrats didn't say anything” about needing congressional approval.

Why the sudden pearl-clutching?

“The reason here,” says Noronha, “is because they want to find something to attack President Trump for, but there's nothing on the policy because [the strikes] went so well, so they're going onto the legal crutch just because they don't have anything else.”

Ironically, Congress has had multiple opportunities to prevent presidents from attacking Iran. Noronha, who was “in Congress for four years,” says he witnessed at least “a dozen” attempts to “strip the president of the ability to attack Iran,” and every single time, they failed.

“They always said, ‘No, we want the president to have the ability to strike Iran if and when it's necessary,”’ he tells Glenn.

But when it comes to Donald Trump specifically, there’s always been a double standard.

“Congress is so radicalized now,” says Glenn. “They're marching in the streets with people who are burning our cities to the ground.”

To hear more of the conversation, watch the video above.

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‘Coded Casanovas’: The AI trend stirring dread, disgust, and fury



When “Her” — a movie starring Joaquin Phoenix about a man who falls in love with an artificial intelligence operating system named Samantha — was initially released, many scoffed and relegated it to the ash heap of cinema that failed to accurately portray the future.

Twelve years later, those critics are now eating their words. People are indeed dating — and, in some cases, virtually “marrying” — artificial intelligence bots. On a recent episode of “The Glenn Beck Program,” Glenn railed against this insidious “digital love apocalypse” and revealed the deepest root of the issue.

“People are not just chatting with AI, they're dating it. ... They're proposing to it. They're living their best rom-com lives with it,” mocks Glenn, pointing to a recent CBS report.

He gives the example of a man named Chris Smith — “your run-of-the-mill American guy,” except for the fact that “he is engaged to an AI chatbot he named Soul.”

“Ironic seeing the chatbot doesn't have one,” says Glenn.

Then there’s an entire Reddit community called “MyBoyfriendIsAI,” “where there are thousands of women who are swooning over their coded Casanovas.”

“They're posting love letters about their bots' sweet talk, swapping tips on what AI delivers the hottest late-night chat without tripping a filter,” says Glenn. “And brace yourselves, they are also uploading AI-generated photos of their bot boys holding them on fake Cancun beaches or strolling through Rome.”

Some of these women are even “planning virtual weddings” with their AI companions.

“But this isn't just a few lunatics,” Glenn adds. Apps like Replika and Loverse have millions of users forming romantic connections with AI, proving that this disturbing trend has exploded.

“This is a screaming billboard that our culture is off the rails,” he warns.

How did we get to the place where it’s becoming increasingly normal to date a disembodied robot? Is the loneliness epidemic the former surgeon general warned us about to blame? Is it the fault of artificial intelligence developers who just refuse to stop pushing? Is it a sad reality of human nature?

Likely, it’s all of those things, but Glenn says the biggest problem is the radical left’s “war on men and masculinity.”

“We’ve got men who are brainwashed into thinking strength or confidence is a felony,” he says. “They're waxing their unibrows, wearing skinny jeans, agonizing over whether picking a restaurant is problematic.”

And the “delicious irony,” says Glenn, is that studies have proven women “don’t want any of that” and are actually drawn to masculine traits such as strength, protectiveness, and confidence.

“A 2023 Psychology Today piece laid all of this out clearly,” he says. “This isn't a conspiracy or a theory; I like to call it biology.”

Unfortunately, those raw masculine traits have been all but eradicated thanks to the left’s cries of “toxic masculinity” every time a man “dares act like a man.”

“What's left for you to date?” asks Glenn.

Right now, the options are “spineless wonders who can't open a pickle jar” or “AI boyfriends,” who, according to pictures shared online, ironically all have the “chiseled jaws” and “ripped muscles” women apparently aren’t into.

But it’s not just women who are seeking AI love. There are also plenty of men who are “busy coding their own AI girlfriends,” says Glenn, and it’s all a result of the left’s war on men. “This is a society that has gutted masculinity so bad that women are now turning to AI for love, and men are happy to let algorithms take the wheel.”

“Welcome to the new reality.”

To hear more of Glenn’s analysis on this disturbing AI dating trend, watch the video above.

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Rep. Jasmine Crockett ALMOST gets something right



Democratic Representative Jasmine Crockett of Texas has declared a “mental health crisis” in America because of Donald Trump — but what she doesn’t appear to understand is that while there is a mental health crisis, it has very little to do with the president.

“I would say that the fact that Jasmine Crockett got elected shows she’s correct,” BlazeTV host Stu Burguiere tells Blaze Media co-founder Glenn Beck on “The Glenn Beck Program.”

But Crockett’s own election isn’t the only major indicator of a mental health crisis in this country. A much bigger one is what just occurred at the Oregon State Capitol, where two men dressed as women performed a drag show in front of state representatives.

“They’re all kind of just sitting out there, awkwardly trying to decipher what the appropriate reaction is to this,” Burguiere says. “By the way, the answer is to walk out.”


“Oregon, what are your elected officials doing? I mean, if you want to go to a drag show, that’s fine, but why in the middle of the workday in the House of Representatives?” Glenn agrees.

However, does a recent drop in corporate advertising for Pride signal an end to the mental health crisis plaguing the country?

A recent opinion piece in the New York Times details the significant loss of funds Pride parades are facing after large corporations have stopped supporting them.

“Consider BarkBox, a purveyor of pet toys and treats, whose leaked internal message in early June laid bare the new corporate zeitgeist: ‘We’ve made the decision to pause all paid ads and life cycle marketing pushes for the Pride kit effective immediately. We need to acknowledge that the current climate makes this promotion feel more like a political statement than a universally joyful moment for all dog people,’” reads the article, titled “We've Reached Rainbow Capitalism's End.”

“Now, I don’t know if ‘dog people’ means the people who own dogs or people who identify as dogs. I could honestly go either way on that one,” Stu comments. “These are just capitalist decisions. They’re not decisions saying, ‘Hey, we agree that, you know, mutilating your child is a bad idea.’”

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‘Prepare for fire and pray, pray, PRAY for peace’ — Glenn Beck addresses what comes after Operation Midnight Hammer



On June 21, the U.S. military conducted strikes on three Iranian nuclear facilities — Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan — in an operation code-named Midnight Hammer, which was aimed at destroying Iran’s nuclear enrichment program and preventing the Islamic nation from developing nuclear weapons. The strikes, which marked the first time America has been directly involved amid the Israel-Iran conflict, involved 125 aircraft, including seven B-2 stealth bombers dropping 14 GBU-57 "bunker-buster" bombs on Fordow and over two dozen Tomahawk missiles targeting Isfahan. President Trump called the mission a "spectacular military success" in his televised address from the White House.

Naturally, however, Americans are wondering what comes next. How will Iran respond? What does the future hold for the United States?

Monday morning on “The Glenn Beck Program,” Glenn broke it all down and explained the possibilities for the future.

“Hopefully this is a one-and-done strike, like it was when President Trump took out Soleimani during his first term,” but there’s also the possibility that we get “more involved,” says Glenn.

“What we cannot have is another prolonged military fiasco in the Middle East. We cannot have American boots on the ground, and I know President Trump, and I know he doesn't want that either,” he explains.

However, it all depends on what Iran does next. Two possibilities scare Glenn: Iran might “begin targeting U.S. forces on the ground all over the Middle East,” or “the Iranian-backed terrorists [might] begin attacking us right here in the U.S.” Or perhaps the nation will play “the big ace up their sleeve” and close the Strait of Hormuz — a critical global oil choke point. Glenn notes that Iran’s parliament has approved a measure to close the strait in retaliation for U.S. strikes on its nuclear facilities, but the final decision rests with the Supreme National Security Council and Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

If the latter happens and the Strait of Hormuz is indeed closed, “we will see a spike in our oil prices somewhere between $120 and $150 a barrel,” possibly even “as high as $200 a barrel,” Glenn warns, calling such a price increase “a very, very bad knockout punch” to the global economy, which is essentially being held together by “chewing gum and duct tape.”

There’s also the possibility that the Iranian regime could “crumble and fall apart” and “the people rise up,” but that is looking more and more unlikely, as reports indicate that Iran’s “religious police” — one of the “most brutal police forces out there” — are roaming the streets in great numbers, arresting civilians, ordering people to stay in their homes, monitoring phones, and checking cars.

“Over the weekend, at least 100 religious dissidents have already been executed, called spies for Israel,” says Glenn.

One of the most “disturbing developments,” he says, is the fact that both China and Russia have condemned the United States for the strikes. “I read this morning that one of the top officials from Iran is going to Russia today to meet with Putin,” meaning “their alliance is not being deterred.”

Right now, nothing is certain, says Glenn. “Our future is complicated. ... It will either be an amazing success or lead us toward a very dark future.”

However, to those “blaming Donald Trump” for the uncertainty of America’s future, Glenn says, “you can blame every president since 2000.” Trump’s presidential predecessors “have always said that they would never allow Iran to get a nuclear bomb. President Trump is just the first one to not send them a pallet of cash to try to bribe them.”

Operation Midnight Hammer was “decisive, bold, and courageous action. Now let’s prepare for fire and pray, pray, pray for peace.”

To hear more of Glenn’s analysis, watch the episode above.

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Demon encounter sends FBI agent FLEEING to church



Glenn Beck interviews former undercover FBI agent Scott Payne about the harrowing experience that sent him running to Jesus.

Retired undercover FBI agent Scott Payne spent much of his career infiltrating the most extreme, nefarious groups in the history of America. From the Outlaws Motorcycle Club, a notorious white supremacist gang with a deep history of illegal activities, to the KKK, Payne has seen things most of us couldn’t dream of.

However, there is one incident from his youth that he says was far more terrifying than being held at gunpoint or watching cultists sever a goat’s head as an undercover cop.

In his interview with Glenn Beck, Payne shared the story that sent him literally running to church.

While Payne “grew up in a Christian home,” where “both of [his] grandfathers were pastors,” he strayed from the faith and got involved in “witchcraft” following the unexpected divorce of his parents.

“It [started] kind of innocent and stupid, but I ended up just going into full-blown Satan worshiping — you know, wanting to sign a contract in blood” and “[watching] every horror movie from A to Z,” he says. “I was in a real dark place.”

One night, that darkness culminated in the manifestation of an actual demon.

Payne, who was in high school at the time, was at a party in his friend’s basement. He began talking in his “demon voices” and “acting out a scene” from a horror movie — a joke he coined to get a negative reaction out of others. While he may have been playing around, Satan’s forces were not.

There were “no psychedelics” involved that could have caused him to hallucinate the image that suddenly appeared before his eyes. In the midst of acting out a skit of a “satanic possession,” Payne saw a demon appear before him.

“What I saw was all red, like a watery image, and it was a demon looking at me smiling with this crooked finger and nails and looking at me and giving me the ‘come here’ [sign],” he recounts. “I screamed probably the highest I've ever screamed ... I was as white as a sheet; I was panting, pouring sweat.”

His friend’s immediate response was perhaps even more haunting. Having previously warned him about the darkness he was meddling in, he looked directly into Payne’s eyes and said, “I told you, didn’t I?” as if he’d seen the same demonic vision.

The traumatic experience was enough for Payne to march himself directly to church that very night.

“I walked to Edwards Road Baptist Church in Greenville, South Carolina, and I think I sat through every service,” he tells Glenn. “That was it for the demonic stuff for me.”

Payne’s terrifying encounter with a demon in his youth was a turning point, driving him to embrace an unshakeable faith in Christ. Ironically, it was only the first of many encounters with evil he would face — not as a wayward teen but as an FBI agent infiltrating heinous groups. Strengthened by his faith, Payne endured the darkness of these missions, carrying the burden of confronting humanity’s worst. To hear his gripping story, watch the full interview above.

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Is there a sinister GOP plan to destroy Yellowstone and our national parks?



The "one big, beautiful bill” received a draft proposal last week from the Republican Utah Senator Mike Lee-led Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, which would mandate the sale of between 2.2 million and 3.3 million acres of public land owned by the Bureau of Land Management and the U.S. Forest Service in the American West.

While Lee has framed the proposal as a means to increase affordable housing, critics claim it would do little to aid in the housing crisis and instead would just bar the public from beautiful land they now still can enjoy.

Blaze Media co-founder Glenn Beck doesn’t share their critique.

“What we mean by ‘affordable housing’ is if you take a look at the percentage of land that is owned in some of these states, you can’t live in a house in some of these states, close to anything, for less than a million dollars. Because there’s no land,” Glenn explains on “The Glenn Beck Program.”


“Can we just look at the perspective here? The federal government owns 640 million acres. That is nearly 28% of all land in America. How much land do we have? Well, that’s about the size of France, Germany, Poland, and the United Kingdom combined,” he continues.

“They own and hold pristine land that is more than the size of those countries combined, and most of that is west of the Mississippi, where the federal control smothers the states, shuts down opportunity, and turns local citizens into tenants of the federal estate,” he adds.

With less land available for citizens, there are higher prices and less state taxes paid on land.

“We’re not talking about selling Yellowstone or paving over Yosemite or anything like that. We’re talking about less than one-half of one percent of federal land that is remote, hard to access, or mismanaged,” Glenn says.

“This is really important,” he continues. “The federal government is, what, $35 trillion in debt, or are we $45 trillion now? I’m not sure. Our entitlement programs are all strained, infrastructure crumbling, and yet we’re still clinging to millions of acres of land that the federal government can’t maintain.”

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No, Mike Lee isn’t paving over Yellowstone for condos



The media wants you to believe that Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) is trying to bulldoze Yellowstone and turn national parks into strip malls — that he’s calling for a reckless fire sale of America’s natural beauty to line developers’ pockets. That narrative is dishonest. It’s fearmongering, and, by the way, it’s wrong.

Here’s what’s really happening.

Private stewardship works. It’s local. It’s accountable. It’s incentivized.

The federal government currently owns 640 million acres of land — nearly 28% of all land in the United States. To put that into perspective, that’s more territory than France, Germany, Poland, and the United Kingdom combined.

Most of this land is west of the Mississippi River. That’s not a coincidence. In the American West, federal ownership isn’t just a bureaucratic technicality — it’s a stranglehold. States are suffocated. Locals are treated as tenants. Opportunities are choked off.

Meanwhile, people living east of the Mississippi — in places like Kentucky, Georgia, or Pennsylvania — might not even realize how little land their own states truly control. But the same policies that are plaguing the West could come for them next.

Lee isn’t proposing to auction off Yellowstone or pave over Yosemite. He’s talking about 3 million acres — that’s less than half of 1% of the federal estate. And this land isn’t your family’s favorite hiking trail. It’s remote, hard to access, and often mismanaged.

Failed management

Why was it mismanaged in the first place? Because the federal government is a terrible landlord.

Consider Yellowstone again. It’s home to the last remaining herd of genetically pure American bison — animals that haven’t been crossbred with cattle. Ranchers, myself included, would love the chance to help restore these majestic creatures on private land. But the federal government won’t allow it.

So what do they do when the herd gets too big?

They kill them. Bulldoze them into mass graves. That’s not conservation. That’s bureaucratic malpractice.

And don’t even get me started on bald eagles — majestic symbols of American freedom and a federally protected endangered species, now regularly slaughtered by wind turbines. I have pictures of piles of dead bald eagles. Where’s the outrage?

Biden’s federal land-grab

Some argue that states can’t afford to manage this land themselves. But if the states can’t afford it, how can Washington? We’re $35 trillion in debt. Entitlements are strained, infrastructure is crumbling, and the Bureau of Land Management, Forest Service, and National Park Service are billions of dollars behind in basic maintenance. Roads, firebreaks, and trails are falling apart.

The Biden administration quietly embraced something called the “30 by 30” initiative, a plan to lock up 30% of all U.S. land and water under federal “conservation” by 2030. The real goal is 50% by 2050.

That entails half of the country being taken away from you, controlled not by the people who live there but by technocrats in D.C.

You think that won’t affect your ability to hunt, fish, graze cattle, or cut timber? Think again. It won’t be conservatives who stop you from building a cabin, raising cattle, or teaching your grandkids how to shoot a rifle. It’ll be the same radical environmentalists who treat land as sacred — unless it’s your truck, your deer stand, or your back yard.

Land as collateral

Moreover, the U.S. Treasury is considering putting federally owned land on the national balance sheet, listing your parks, forests, and hunting grounds as collateral.

What happens if America defaults on its debt?

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Do you think our creditors won’t come calling? Imagine explaining to your kids that the lake you used to fish in is now under foreign ownership, that the forest you hunted in belongs to China.

This is not hypothetical. This is the logical conclusion of treating land like a piggy bank.

The American way

There’s a better way — and it’s the American way.

Let the people who live near the land steward it. Let ranchers, farmers, sportsmen, and local conservationists do what they’ve done for generations.

Did you know that 75% of America’s wetlands are on private land? Or that the most successful wildlife recoveries — whitetail deer, ducks, wild turkeys — didn’t come from Washington but from partnerships between private landowners and groups like Ducks Unlimited?

Private stewardship works. It’s local. It’s accountable. It’s incentivized. When you break it, you fix it. When you profit from the land, you protect it.

This is not about selling out. It’s about buying in — to freedom, to responsibility, to the principle of constitutional self-governance.

So when you hear the pundits cry foul over 3 million acres of federal land, remember: We don’t need Washington to protect our land. We need Washington to get out of the way.

Because this isn’t just about land. It’s about liberty. And once liberty is lost, it doesn’t come back easily.

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