During the December 6 edition of ABC's Good Morning America, anchor Diane Sawyer hosted the Southern Baptist Convention's Rev. Richard Land and CNN Headline News host Glenn Beck to discuss voter attitudes toward Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney's Mormon faith. In responding to Sawyer's question about whether Romney's speech, scheduled for later that day, titled “Faith in America,” will, in Sawyer's words, “get it done,” Beck, a Mormon, replied: “First of all, why are we going to a candidate and asking about religion? Who cares?” But Beck himself has challenged a politician “about religion.” As Media Matters for America documented, on the November 14, 2006, edition of his CNN Headline News program, Beck said to then-Rep.-elect Keith Ellison (D-MN), who, that year, became the first Muslim ever elected to Congress: “OK. No offense, and I know Muslims. I like Muslims. I've been to mosques. I really don't believe that Islam is a religion of evil. I -- you know, I think it's being hijacked, quite frankly. With that being said, you are a Democrat. You are saying, 'Let's cut and run.' And I have to tell you, I have been nervous about this interview with you, because what I feel like saying is, 'Sir, prove to me that you are not working with our enemies.' ” He added: “I'm not accusing you of being an enemy, but that's the way I feel, and I think a lot of Americans will feel that way.”

Beck later stated that his comments to Ellison were “poorly worded” and “wish[ed]” he “could take back and rephrase,” as Media Matters noted.

Additionally, as Media Matters further documented, on the May 10 edition of his nationally syndicated radio show, Beck stated that he “wouldn't vote for [Sen.] Joe Lieberman [I-CT] as president ... because of the way the Middle East would use it,” but also asserted, “That's not saying the same thing as I wouldn't vote for a Jew for president.” He did not explain the distinction he drew between asserting that what he says would be the reaction in the Middle East to electing Lieberman, who is Jewish, would prevent him from voting for Lieberman, and asserting that he wouldn't vote for a Jew for president. Beck stated that although he believes Lieberman “knows how to fight this war,” and “even if I didn't disagree with him on so many social issues,” he would refrain from voting for him because of the “complications it would add in this country or on the planet right now.”

From the November 14 edition of CNN Headline News' Glenn Beck:

BECK: History was made last Tuesday when Democrat Keith Ellison got elected to Congress, representing the great state of Minnesota. Well, not really unusual that Minnesota would elect a Democrat. What is noteworthy is that Keith is the first Muslim in history to be elected to the House of Representatives. He joins us now.

Congratulations, sir.

ELLISON: How you doing, Glenn? Glad to be here.

BECK: Thank you. I will tell you, may I -- may we have five minutes here where we're just politically incorrect and I play the cards face up on the table?

ELLISON: Go there.

BECK: OK. No offense, and I know Muslims. I like Muslims. I've been to mosques. I really don't believe that Islam is a religion of evil. I -- you know, I think it's being hijacked, quite frankly.

With that being said, you are a Democrat. You are saying, “Let's cut and run.” And I have to tell you, I have been nervous about this interview with you, because what I feel like saying is, “Sir, prove to me that you are not working with our enemies.”

And I know you're not. I'm not accusing you of being an enemy, but that's the way I feel, and I think a lot of Americans will feel that way.

ELLISON: Well, let me tell you, the people of the Fifth Congressional District know that I have a deep love and affection for my country. There's no one who is more patriotic than I am. And so, you know, I don't need to -- need to prove my patriotic stripes.

BECK: I understand that. And I'm not asking you to. I'm wondering if you see that. You come from a district that is heavily immigrant with Somalians. And I think it's wonderful, honestly, I think it is really a good sign that you are a -- you could be an icon to show Europe, this is the way you integrate into a country. I think the Somalians coming out and voting is a very good thing. With that --

ELLISON: I'd agree with you.

From the May 10 edition of Premiere Radio Networks' The Glenn Beck Program:

CALLER: You know, we were just having this conversation yesterday about -- with some friends of mine. None of us really could care less. I've met some Mormons --

BECK: Look. Look, [caller], here's the thing. It is -- this is the epitome of bigoted thinking by saying that you won't vote for somebody because they're a Mormon. It is the epitome of bigoted -- can you imagine if I said, “I won't vote for somebody because they're a Jew”? “I won't vote for them because they're a Muslim”? Can you imagine coming out and saying that? And yet, it's OK in America to say that I, “I won't vote for them because they're a Mormon.” It's bigoted.

Now, I have said on this program, “I would not vote for Joe Lieberman as president of the United States.” I think Joe Lieberman knows how to fight this war. I think Joe Lieberman really gets it. However, even if I didn't disagree with him on so many social issues, I wouldn't vote for Joe Lieberman at this time because of the complications it would add in this country or on the planet right now because of the way the Middle East would use it. That's not saying the same thing as I wouldn't vote for a Jew for president. And yet, people can get away with that.

From the December 6 edition of ABC's Good Morning America:

SAWYER: First question to the two of you: As we know, there are polls that show, a quarter to a third of Americans say -- say? -- admit they are troubled by something about Mormons. And 25 percent of Americans, 36 percent of evangelicals, say they will not vote for a Mormon to be in the White House. This is my question to you. And I'll start with you Dr. Land. Is he changing? Does Mitt Romney changing with these words the way these people are gonna feel?

LAND: I think he'll change some minds. I've been encouraging the governor for over a year to give a speech about this issue and to try to do what John Kennedy did in 1960. John Kennedy came to Houston and gave a magnificent speech in which he said, “I'm not the Catholic candidate for president, I'm the Democratic Party's candidate for president.” And he said: “I want to -- what should be important is the vision I believe in for America, not my faith.” And I think that the governor needs to give a speech in which he can close this deal for many, many, many people. I don't think that his Mormonism is a deal-breaker for most Americans, but only Mitt Romney can close the deal in the same way that Senator Kennedy was the only one that could close the deal.

SAWYER: But Dr. Land, let me ask you a yes-or-no question: Do you consider Mormons Christians?

LAND: No, I do not. I think that if you look at their doctrine of God the Father and their doctrine of God the Son, The Doctrines [sic] and Covenants, which is one of their sacred texts, says, “As man now is, God once was; and as God now is, man may become.”

SAWYER: OK, let me bring in Glenn Beck on it.

LAND: For Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, no historic Christian faith would say that about God the Father.

SAWYER: Glenn Beck --

BECK: I would tell you, Richard, I --

SAWYER: -- is the speech today going to get it done? And you respond?

BECK: Yeah. Well, first of all, let me just say to Richard, I love you, Richard, but Jesus and I are going to be having a couple conversations today 'cause Jesus is my savior and I happen to be Mormon. But, with that being said, when the media decides they're going to ask [Sen.] Orrin Hatch [R-UT] or they're going to ask [Senate Majority Leader] Harry Reid [D-NV] about their religion, and what role it's going to play, you let me know. This is the biggest non-issue I've ever heard. First of all, why are we going to a candidate and asking about religion? Who cares? If you really -- America, you really want to know about Mormons? Believe me, ask a Mormon. You won't be able to shut 'em up about it.

SAWYER: Well, but let me ask you -- let me ask you, Glenn --

BECK: Seriously, they'll send the bikes and everything else.

SAWYER: Just tackle this with Americans out there asking some of these things that you hear about. OK, Jesus will come back, but come back to Missouri, that Mormons believe in -- you can tackle all this -- that Mormons believe that Mormon -- that the Latter-Day Saints are the true church and that the Book of Mormon really is the completed version of the Bible. What about all this?

BECK: Here's -- Diane, here's -- I mean, you know, here we go in 40 seconds. I'm not the defender of the faith by any stretch of the imagination, but I'm a relatively intelligent man. First of all, the Pilgrims came here because they thought New Jerusalem was going to be set up in America. Read their own diaries. The other is -- well, I'm sorry. What -- the other one was that --

SAWYER: The question of the completed Bible is the Book of Mormon --

BECK: Oh, yeah.

SAWYER: -- that the Bible's not complete.

BECK: If you look at the way -- yeah, if you look at the way the Bible was put together, it has been edited over and over and over again. It doesn't mean that it is not -- it is not, itself, the word of God. We absolutely believe it's the word of God.

Here's what -- here's the way Mormons believe on other faiths. And I think we should all kind of adopt this kind of a view. We all have puzzle pieces. And if everybody would stop guarding their one puzzle piece and say, “This is the only true picture,” we would be a lot better off. Because we'd be able to look at each other's pictures and see how they fit together and say, “Oh, my gosh! What a full, rich picture of God.”